CHRISTMAS came early for Curraheen Park bookmakers on Saturday night when all four favourites in the opening round of the Irish Examiner 750 bit the dust - three of them at 1/2 or shorter.

WEIGHT of numbers proved decisive in the final of the Beamish 575 Stakes at Curraheen Park on Saturday night as trainer Paul Hennessy, with four of the six runners, duly filled two of the first three places with Phoenix Ice and Taming The Tiger.