Hopes Are High lands juvenile maiden on debut for Durkan Hopes Are High made a winning start to his hurdling career, when landing the C.J. Sheeran Ltd 3-Y-O Maiden Hurdle at Ballinrobe, on debut for trainer Bill Durkan. Rated 75 on the Flat, the Shaman gelding had shown definite promise on five runs for John Joseph Murphy, before being sold for 40k. Making his stable debut here, on his first start over flights, the 14/1 chance tracked the leaders under Philip Byrnes, before moving second after two out. Pushed along to head Kasper Hauser before the last, the grey then kept on well to hold the late run of Bridezilla by three-quarters-of-a-length. Assistant Trainer Gary Bannon reported: "You're always worried running them first time and it's a new syndicate, so this is the first time their colours were used. "The syndicate was set up by Bill's (Durkan) grandson John Durkan and includes friends from Mayo and New York. John is living in the UK and went over to visit the rest of the owners in New York so they're watching in and are absolutely buzzing. This is a great start and they are cheering the place down. "We thought he'd run a nice race, he had been doing nice bits of work and schooled quite well. "This horse was up early in the sales and I picked him out, as he looked very athletic. He had only run over seven furlongs and mile but looked athletic enough to take to hurdles. We think he'll improve a ton and will go to Listowel now, so we'll see how far he can climb." Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes.
