It may be different next year but for the moment it was very much as you were at Leopardstown on Saturday when the Dermot WeldMick Kinane team struck up a treble.

Kinane may be riding for the Ballydoyle team in 1999 but Saturday's three winners brought Weld's seasonal total to an impressive 80.

"It has been a very satisfying year," declared the Curragh trainer after Fearsome Factor pounced through a split on the turn-in to land the Merrion Maiden by seven easy lengths.

Fearsome Factor will be one of a small team of National Hunt horses that Weld will train through the winter, but it was an earlier winner, Moving On Up in the JRA Handicap, that could hit the high class over the flights.

From being at the rear with nowhere to go a furlong and a half down, Moving On Up was switched to the outside by Kinane to win very smoothly by two and a half lengths from Euphoric.

"I will have only a small team of hurdlers but Moving On Up could make into a pretty high class one," Weld said, before reporting that his Kerry National winner, Treble Bob, is unlikely to be seen again before the New Year, when his target will be the Aintree Grand National. Weld trained Greasepaint to be second to Hello Dandy in the 1984 National.

Kinane had kicked off the threetimer in the Dargle Handicap on Heuston Station, who fought back on the stands side to beat Kenema by three-quarters of length.

The rain soaked track meant that the stalls were moved from the stands' side to the Foxrock side, but Kinane stayed with his original plan and found the better ground. "Mick had a look cantering down and figured the better ground was on the stands' side. It worked out well," said Weld. Heuston Station will now be sent to the December sales in Newmarket.

John Murtagh described the heavy ground as bad as he had ever experienced at Leopardstown, but his mount in the Premier Nursery, Wild Heaven, seemed to thrive on it and put four and a half lengths between herself and Kasota.

Sharp Catch set such a fast pace in the mile Crofton Race that the field finished strung out like steeplechasers. However, Sharp Catch kept that pace up well enough to comfortably beat the disappointing Heed My Warning.

Sharp Catch was completing a double for Aidan O'Brien, whose Cupid had earlier held off the favourite, Morning Breeze, in the Laidlaw Maiden.

On a very wet and windy day, the attendance was not surprisingly down over 1,000 on last year to 3,661 although the Tote and bookmaker figures were up.