Big Ego rallied well to get his head in front at the end of a mile and a half in the Thomastown Handicap at Gowran Park.

Leigh Roche sent him into an early lead but the pair were headed a furlong and a half out by 2/1 favourite Less Of That

However, Big Ego finished his race strongly in the latter stages and got up by half a length at 14/1. Circling Moon grabbed second at 5/1 by a short head from Less Of That.

Trainer Andrew Oliver said: "He is a lovely big horse by Helmet. At one stage I was thinking 'what am I doing?' because everyone else is winning with him.

"He is just big and backward. He is a real stayer and just needs as far as he can go. We just decided to be positive on him and Leigh gave him a great ride.

"We'll see what staying races are coming up. Hopefully he should do nothing only improve and the ease in the ground definitely helped him today."

Additional reporting by Donal Murphy