The Long Dog scares them all off in Sligo

Andrew Oliver unleashed a promising gelding in the mile and a quarter maiden at Sligo as his Long Dog hacked up in good style under Chris Hayes.

The three-year-old raced in second behind clear leader Madam Mo but took closer order on the home bend. From there he strode away for an impressive eight-length success.

Handler Andrew Oliver obviously holds him in high regard as he commented: “He’s a horse we always thought an awful lot of. He’s a big horse and we minded him as a two-year-old.

“Hopefully there’s tonnes of improvement and we’ll take it from here. We think he’s progressive and Chris gave him a great ride.

“There’s a lack of mile or mile and two maidens at the moment so it’s nice to get one.” Thomas Edison was all the rage at the track, backed in to even money from 13/8. He was 9/4 when trading opened this morning.

The JP McManus-owned six-year-old was in rear throughout but kept on steadily in the home straight to get up for second, with Fran Berry in the plate. He was a short head in front of Madam Mo (2/1), a filly who was well backed during the day from 9/2.

Additional reporting by Gary Carson