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Mark Nunan

Mark Nunan

Swiss Army Officer in command in claimer

Wed 14th Jul 2021, 17:04

Swiss Army Officer and Emmet McNamara (right)Swiss Army Officer and Emmet McNamara (right)
© Photo Healy Racing

Swiss Army Officer (5/1, from as big as 10/1 this morning) made all under Emmet McNamara to take the opening Torc Waterfall Claiming Race.

First-time blinkers certainly did no harm to the 6-year-old, who looked a bit vulnerable coming to the furlong marker,but stayed on well under pressure to hold Eastern Racer (7/2 jt fav) by a length. The other 7/2 joint-favourite Fugacious never landed a blow in seventh.

The winner had scored on softer ground at Cork last October.

It was a second winner of the week at Killarney, after Horoscope on Monday, for last year’s Derby-winning jockey McNamara.

Winning trainer Kevin Coleman said: “He is huge and is 610 kilos at the moment. All his runs this year were in big-field Leopardstown handicaps and he was never beaten more than five or six lengths and ran well every time.

"He needs his own way in front and got it today around here, and Emmet was very good on him and kidded him along and he won well in the end.

"He shows a lot more at home than he does at the track and those claimers are ideal for him, as in a handicap they are all vying for the lead and it is a different story. He'd have won without the blinkers today."

There were no claims made for any of the runners in the race.

Quotes from Thomas Weekes

1st
5/1
Tote €5.90 €1.70
2nd
1L
7/2JFav
€2.00
3rd
1L
20/1
€6.20
4th
hd
15/2
bf
2.25L
7/2JFav
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.