Course specialist Dunum digs deep to land spoils at Galway
STILL GOT IT: Veteran jockey Seamie Heffernan savours the moment after partnering Dunum to victory in the Colm Quinn BMW Premier Handicap at Ballybrit. Picture: Healy Racing
The Colm Quinn BMW Premier Handicap was the highlight on another busy evening in Galway, and it took all of Seamie Heffernan and Dunum’s experience to land the €120,000 feature.
Leading all the way is very much the modus operandi for the horse, trained in Banbridge by Natalia Lupini, and Heffernan played to his mount’s strengths.
Bear Profit, ridden by Nicola Burns, who is very much at the other end of a promising career in the saddle, emerged as a serious threat in the straight but try as the pair did, they could find no way by the doughty leader.
The sea air wafting across Salthill seems to bring the winner alive and for the seven-year-old winner it was a third victory at the meeting — and there’s a good chance he is not yet finished for the week.
At this unique festival, many horses take their chance more than once, and it has a habit of accommodating multiple winners. If this fellow comes out of this race well, he could reappear in the Ahanoora here on Sunday, a race he finished third in last year and won in 2023.
“He comes to life at this track, and he had a good jockey, who gave him a peach of a ride — we couldn’t have asked for better,” said a delighted Lupini. “He usually jumps smart (from the stalls) and Seamie said he wasn’t going to give away his position, and it worked.
“The horse enjoyed himself on the track. He loves the downhill into the dip, and the uphill finish, and he battled well to the line. It’s been great. He’s a Galway specialist.”
While it may have been a long final furlong for supporters of the winner, the veteran rider had no concerns.
“I was never in doubt,” said veteran jockey Heffernan. “I could see the other horse arriving late but I knew the line was coming quickly. He didn’t curl up under pressure.
“It’s brilliant to get a nice pot, and I’m still loving the game. I rode at Tramore, Killarney and all those places. Irish jockeys have to hold their own, they ride tight and don’t give an inch away. It’s not a case of ‘before you’ but I’m still enjoying it — and I’m getting support.”
A little later on the card, Collecting Coin had little trouble completing his 3-2-1 sequence when favourite for the Caulfield Industrial Irish EBF Maiden.
Jessica Harrington’s horse, who was gelded since his last run, looked a touch more straightforward this time than when third on debut and runner-up second time, and he got the job done in good style.
While he was a little keen early, he was able to get a good position behind the leaders, and when Shane Foley switched him out to make his move coming off the final bend, he went away to win quite readily.
Kate Harrington said: “He misbehaved a bit in Cork and on the Curragh and had a little snip since then. He behaved impeccably today and probably did what he was supposed to do. He’s a lovely horse going forward and we’ll probably pick out a winners-of-one and then plot our way through the season. He’s ground versatile.
“Shane said his ability got him home in front. He fell out of stalls, fell over the roadway, and he’s still green, but his ability got him through and hopefully he’s going to go on improving.”
