Michael Graham
Togoville continues his polytrack progression
Grey horse Togoville keeps his head in front
© Photo Healy Racing
Togoville put in a gutsy performance from the front and fought off Strait Of Zanzibar by a neck to win the featured seven furlong handicap in Dundalk.
The grey son of Verglas travelled well, but push came to shove from Gary Carroll with under a quarter of a mile to race.
The five-year-old gelding really knuckled down to the task in hand in the final furlong and refused to yield as he justified 5/2 favouritism for trainer Georgios Pakidis.
He won this assignment off a mark of 91. It was his fourth polytrack victory and the first one came off 72 at the start of December (on his first run for Pakidis). In his career he has also secured victories at Roscommon and on the beach at Laytown.
"We'll keep going with him - simple as that," Georgios Pakidis said.
"He beat a couple of nice horses tonight. We'll look at some listed races probably now and see what we have.
"He probably wants good ground. He had a small break and we freshened him up a little bit."
The money came for Beau Satchel throughout the day as he contracted to 5/1 from 10s. He was beaten just over three lengths into fifth. There was a little over five lengths between first and last in this six-horse race.
Additional reporting by Gary Carson