LEOPARDSTOWN’S Desmond Stakes witnessed the winning return to action of a promising three-year-old, if not the one that had been expected. Last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Hit It A Bomb started favourite, and looked like winning for a long way, but caved in late to finish third to Tribal Beat and Cougar Mountain.

The overall time was a decent one and resulted in Tribal Beat getting a timefigure of 108, while times more widely on the card hint that the ground may have been more testing than the official “good to firm”, even after allowing for the effects of a brisk wind.