Daler wins at Leopardstown for Avondale legend David Spratt

Daler, named after one of Avondale's most iconic members, the late Chris Herlihy and sporting the silks of long time club legend David Spratt landed a second career success at Leopardstown on Thursday evening, to complete a terrific 24 hours for his trainer Ger Lyons.

Daler showed courage in abundance on rain softened ground at Leopardstown to complete a tremendous treble for a bang in form Ger Lyons. 

He toughed it out to land the Boyle Sports Handicap, over nine furlongs, at the Foxrock venue after a day of heavy rain in Dublin. 

Gary Carroll gets on particularly well with Daler and he produced the 12/1 chance to reel in the long time leader Molto Amichi having been supported at 16/1. 

Daler isn't entirely straightforward, he sported cheekpieces at Leopardstown for the first time. 

Daler's achilles heel historically has been tardy starts out of stalls - forcing him to concede quite a bit of ground to his rivals. 

He's now starting to break on terms and Gary Carroll was content to track the leaders and gradually worked his way into fourth approaching the two furlong marker. 

He came under pressure at this juncture but responded well to Gary's urgings as he struck the front inside the final furlong and ultimately has won a shade readily two and a quarter lengths. 

Most of Daler’s runs have come on the All Weather track at Dundalk, so Thursday night's testing conditions weren't expected to suit him. 

The fact he handled the soft ground so well opens up a host of options going forward. 

Ger Lyons has had a quiet start to the season but he's suddenly hit form with a vengeance. 

He recorded a double at the Curragh on Wednesday and a treble at Leopardstown suggests that the yard is on an upward trajectory.

Daler had gotten off the mark at Dundalk last October in the first division of the one mile Halloween Mid-Term Racing At Dundalk Handicap. 

The Dark Angel gelding wasn't winning out of turn on that occasion, he'd been placed five times prior to that Dundalk success.

He finally shed his maiden status at Dundalk at the tenth attempt. 

Thursday's victory at Leopardstown went down particularly well with club members. 

Chris Herlihy was one of the founding members of Cork City FC, and was a huge driving force behind Avondale United. 

He served as vice-chairman at Cork City, and his invaluable contribution and insight on club committees was instrumental in Cork City lifting their first league title.

His involvement behind the scenes with Avondale was equally invaluable. 

They enjoyed huge success in the Munster Senior League and also in the FAI Intermediate Cup. 

Chris was fiercely passionate and his dedicated commitment to the club was steadfast.