Lordan and Smullen clock up 20th winners

The season’s leading riders, Wayne Lordan and Pat Smullen, moved onto the 20 winner mark when hitting the target early in Dundalk last night.

Lordan, the early-season pacesetter in the title-race, partnered odds-on favourite Almanack to an all-the-way win in the opening two-year-old maiden while Smullen was seen at his strongest on board Exhortation, which got home by the minimum margin, a nose, from Multitasking in the six-furlong maiden.

Helped by his debut third over course and distance, Almanack pleased Lordan, who commented: “He knew his job after the last day and won well. He’s still a bit green and should improve again. And six furlongs won’t be a problem for him.”