Tennessee Stud took a step forward to land the Camas Park Stud Irish EBF Maiden for Joseph O’Brien and Declan McDonogh at Tipperary.

The Wootton Bassett colt made his first start at Galway, finishing third when staying on over a mile and half a furlong.

This time he was entered over nine furlongs for the maiden won last year by Aidan O’Brien’s subsequent Irish Derby hero Los Angeles.

Tennessee Stud was a 5-1 chance for the race, with the market favouring Ballydoyle representative Shackleton in a field of six.

McDonogh’s mount made all the running, however, and was a decisive winner on the line when beating the favourite by two and a quarter lengths, as the rest of the field were well spaced behind them.

“He showed a bit of pace to get that position out of the gates,” the jockey said.

“He had to overcome a lot, the track is riding very tight. I got a nice sit into him down the back and he picked up well down the straight.

“The (racing) line we are on is throwing us out at every bend. It’s not ideal, but he did very well.

“I thought it rode a nice race and he could definitely be a stakes horse. Physically he’s a beautiful horse and has great balance.

“He got a bump out of the gates the last day and obviously learned a good bit from the experience.”

The same duo then paired up to take the Irish EBF Auction Series Maiden with 4-9 favourite Dignam, who prevailed by a length and a quarter to go on better than his second-placed run at Gowran.

“That was the first time I rode him. I sat on him yesterday morning and he’s a grand, solid horse,” McDonogh said.

“He has a turn of foot and when I was getting it easy, I kicked and got a few lengths on them.

“He feels like a quality sort of horse as he was gawking the whole way down the straight and lugging out to his right a little bit and having a good look. It’s inexperience and I’d say he’d be better with a lead.”

Adrian Murray and David Egan teamed up to take the Rockwell College Race with Malex (4-1) in the Amo Racing colours.

With Michael O’Callaghan before switching to Jorge Delgado in America, where he had only start, the five-year-old, who was highly tried at three, showed plenty of ability remains in beating Star Galaxy by a length and a quarter.

Murray said: “We’ve had him about six months and we weren’t really sure what to expect today.

“He came back from America with a bit of an injury and has got over that, but you just don’t know until you run them.

“He’d been working well at home and has come through with flying colours.

“He’s picked up a little bit of a cut, but hopefully he’ll be OK in a few days.”