< Air Chief Marshal was the highlight of a Johnny Murtagh treble at Dundalk as got a confidence-boosting success under his belt in the Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Race.

Those who took the 1-4 about Aidan O'Brien's former Phoenix Stakes runner-up never had an anxious moment as he won in a canter by 15 lengths.

Murtagh said: "He was entitled to do that on the figures and he handled the surface well.

"He ran up beside Croisultan, who won a Listed race the other day, so hopefully he'll be able to get one before the end of the year.

"Seven furlongs is a good trip for him."

While perhaps not as easy as Air Chief Marshal, Seven Summits (13-8 favourite) was another for O'Brien and Murtagh in the Hibernia Steel Maiden.

And Murtagh made it three for the day with a superbly-timed effort on the Vincent Ward-trained Fictional Account (9-2) in the Boylesports.com Handicap.

Tracey Collins could turn The Mighty Atom out again quickly after landing the Crowne Plaza Race & Stay Maiden.

Weighing room veteran Pat Shanahan had to earn his fee from some way out, but his efforts paid off as the 7-2 chance responded to his urgings to see off 6-4 favourite Gala Sprit by a hard-fought half a length.

Collins said: "I'm very pleased. It's great to get a win with her as she's a very well-bred filly.

"There's a possibility she might reappear on Saturday at the Curragh. We'll see how she comes out of this."< Empirico was a smooth winner of a rather unsatisfactory Marshes Shopping Centre Dundalk Handicap for David Marnane and Colm O'Donoghue, a race which went off eight minutes late after a false start caused by a stalls malfunction.

The 4-1 favourite was produced to perfection and soon put the race to bed, winning by two lengths from Patrickswell

Marnane said: "He's a lovely horse. He's had a lot of problems, but when he's good he's very good.

"We brought him here as the ground was getting a bit quick for him and I don't want to chance him too often on it.

"He likes this surface and we might give him a bit of a br