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Mark Nunan

Mark Nunan

Cormorant wins the first under Heffernan

Thu 8th Aug 2019, 18:04

CORMORANT and Seamie Heffernan (near side) beat Agitare in the 2-y-o Maiden.CORMORANT and Seamie Heffernan (near side) beat Agitare in the 2-y-o Maiden.
© Photo Healy Racing

Aidan O’Brien ran two in the opening 1m 2-y-o Maiden at Leopardstown, and while all the money was for his newcomer Mythical (8/13 fav), it was the once-raced Cormorant (7/2) who came home in front.

Seamie Heffernan ’s mount cut out the early running from Agitare (16/1) in second, and although headed by that one early in the straight, he battled back gamely to win by a short head from the Bolger-trained debutant. Taramansour (13/2) was back in third another length and a half away, while Mythical didn’t pick up from the two pole and finished sixth.

The winner, by Kingman, cost over 1,000,000 guineas as a yearling, and had finished fourth to Free Solo over course and distance a fortnight previously.

The winning rider Seamie Heffernan remarked: “He had a lovely run and a lot of them need a first run badly.

“I was happy with him. He's clean winded and he has a real good attitude. He's highly likely to get further.”

Additional reporting by Gary Carson

1st
7/2
Tote €3.60 €1.30
2nd
shd
16/1
€5.20
3rd
1.5L
13/2
4th
0.5L
14/1
bf
0.75L
8/13Fav
About Mark Nunan
Mark has followed racing since he was a teenager and worked for many years as a broadcaster with the Irish version of Racecall. He joined the Press Association in 2019 and is also a contributor to the Racing Post. A native of Kildare, he now lives in Sligo.