Duke Of Leggagh toughs it out as Mick Mulvany and Gary Carroll land double

Having struck the crossbar at the Curragh and Naas over the weekend, trainer Mick Mulvany hit the back of the net twice as he teamed up with rider Gary Carroll for a double with horses who had filled runner-up spots on Saturday and Sunday.

Duke Of Leggagh brought up the double with victory in the 1m2f handicap after the son of Tough As Nails had been raised 12lb for finishing second to Paddington in Sunday's Madrid Handicap at Naas from 12lb out of the handicap.

Racing off his old mark here it was a contest that almost had to be won. It looked precarious when Tea Olive came upsides travelling the better over a furlong out, but one thing Mulvany's three-year-old was unlikely to lack was resolution. He rallied strongly and forged clear up the hill to score by seven lengths.

Mulvany said: "We had to win. Trying to win going up 12lb was going to be hard, but he's a lovely horse in the making. It took a while for the penny to drop last year, but it did on his last run at Galway and he is improving all the time. Gary said he had a bit left.

"We'll have to wait and see what the handicapper does after that. He will be very hard to beat on that sort of ground and I think he will develop into a very nice juvenile hurdler late in the year."

The Mulvany-trained Seeingisbelieving was second in a Curragh sprint handicap on Saturday, and he put that behind him with a decisive victory in the opening 5f handicap.

Carroll was always travelling well on the four-year-old, dashed him to the front a furlong out, and had more than enough in the tank to see off recent Dundalk winner Tawaazon by three-quarters of a length. 

"We were expecting a good run from him as he ran very well on Saturday," said Mulvany. "He had a few little problems but we think we have solved them, so hopefully he can keep going. He had a problem with his knees so that ground seems to help him."

Reflecting on his start to the season, Mulvany said: "We're going well. We have done a lot of work on the grass with them and it's paying off."

Twomey off the mark

Trainer Paddy Twomey got off the mark with his first runner of the season when last year's Irish Derby third French Claim dismissed his rivals with ease in the 1m6f conditions race under Billy Lee. 

The son of French Fifteen finished seventh in the St Leger at Doncaster last September and was strong to the line here as he beat Taipan by seven and a half lengths, a test made simpler by the withdrawal of likely market rival Okita Soushi.

Twomey said: "He's pretty versatile, but he acts on that ground. The finish to last season was a bit of a mess so hopefully he will have a good year. We will probably come back here for the Vintage Crop Stakes next month."

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.