Title chasing Murtagh bags two more

JOHNNY Murtagh bolstered his defence of the Jockeys Championship title when following Saturday’s treble at Leopardstown with a double on two-year-olds Factum and Warning Flag at Dundalk yesterday.

Runner-up in Killarney last time Factum, a son of Storm Cat, had to work hard to justify 1/2 favouritism in the one-mile Damien Dempsey Live At Dundalk 2-Y-0 Race.

Having made the running, he was headed by Triple Eight at the furlong-pole but fought back under Murtagh’s strong driving to short-head his rival, prompting Murtagh to comment: “He’s still very green and raw and it helped when Pat’s horse came at him,. He kept finding for me and hit the line on a good stride.”