The Tony Martin trained Golan Guy land a gamble for connections in the opening Dark Horse at Down Royal Cafe and Wine Bar Maiden Hurdle when scoring under Davy Condon.

The six-year-old was backed from 5/1 in the morning market into a returned price of 9/4 joint favourite and won a shade cosily despite idling in the closing stages.

Winning local owner Bill Moffett said afterwards: "This horse has been disappointing on soft ground. Davy (Condon) gave him a nice ride today and said that the good hard gallop suited as did the quicker ground."