Kerdos kicks off Ladies Day at Dundalk in style The Stephen Thorne-trained Kerdos (17/2) timed his challenge well to deny the Danny Murphy-trained Eclairage in the opener at Dundalk. The six-year-old son of Profitable was midfield throughout the contest, but he was given a superb ride by jockey Jack Kearney, who led in the final strides to win by half a length and gain his first victory since the 25th of May at Haydock, when trained in England by Clive Cox. Speaking after the race, Stephen Thorne said: "It was a very competitive pot and obviously it was a very open field in terms of the betting. We knew there was going to be plenty of pace on paper and we decided, with a wide draw, we would take our time through it. "He's a horse that has obviously lost a lot of confidence there over the last couple of months on the turf. These sprinters need to have plenty of confidence in order to figure at the business end. "Meanwhile, he was dropping plenty in the weights and it has definitely helped us, so I'm hoping that he will have turned a corner after that today. Jack said he had a good look when he hit the front, but hopefully that will instil plenty of confidence. "He had a very good run for me here on his first run for me behind Valiant Force back in February. We obviously ran him in stakes races there through the turf. He was bought to try and win a stakes race. He's an older horse and he ran in Group 1 company at three, four and five. "We are probably just catching the horse a little bit on the decline in terms of his career, but I think the horse is still very useful and hopefully he will be able to land a nice pot for us. "We have him in the Scurry (Curragh, next weekend) and we'll see what he (handicapper) gives him tomorrow. We can do the forfeits on Tuesday, so it is still an option. Jack said he will have no issue getting six (furlongs) and, if we don't go to the Scurry, there's another nice six up here in August. "One of his owners, Mick Scaife, is going through treatment and he is a very good supporter. This will give him a boost." (Quotes from Michael Graham)
