Slattery rides first winner on Sharjah It was a red-letter day for the Slattery family as jockey Andrew rode his first winner on board his father's Sharjah. The young 10lb-claimer sent Sharjah into an early lead despite being housed in stall 14 of this extended mile and a quarter handicap. He as clear half a mile out but Try Again led the pursuers as they closed entering the home straight. Sharjah was clearly in the mood though, as he kept up the gallop and saw them all off by three parts of a length at 25/1. Tropic Thunder, the 2/1 favourite, stayed on for second with Try Again (11/1) the same distance back in third. Trainer Andy Slattery said: "We could have sold that horse several times to England but we kept him because we knew that Ben (Coen, nephew) and Andrew would be coming along riding. He's an ideal ride for a young lad starting off. "That's his first winner so it's great. It's grand to get him off the mark and get him going. He's 16 and only weighs 6st 12lb in colours. He'll be able to claim off 8st4lbs, and hopefully he'll make into a nice rider next summer. He's still a little bit weak and raw but hopefully it'll come together. "He's only riding three years as he'd no interest before that and he did a good bit of pony racing last year. He had about 15 winners and rode a winner in Dingle last year. "A lot of lads at the pony racing wanted me to give him another year as he'd probably have been one of the best at it this year but I'd say he'd learn more around here than he would doing that. "He's a very hard horse to get fit and the run over two miles the last day got him fit. You just couldn't get him fit at home. He'll probably run again here next Thursday night. He loves the surface. "He won over hurdles this year but I just can't get the ground quick enough for him over hurdles." Oisin Orr was hit with a 14-day ban for dangerous riding and his mount Dancing Doll was disqualified from fifth place over an incident which saw Long Journey Home fall approximately two furlongs out. This was Sharjah's eight victory at Dundalk and 11th in all flat races. Additional reporting by Alan Magee
