Herons Heir showed a good attitude to wear down Ballyroe Rambler in the bumper at Wexford.

In gruelling conditions, four horses in this small field all held chances on the turn for home, but Herons Heir and Ballyroe Rambler fought out the first prize in the final furlong.

It was only close home that Herons Heir found more and moved ahead of his rival to score on his racecourse debut for Conor O’Dwyer with Kevin Sexton in the saddle. The winning distance was a length and a quarter and he was short in the betting at 5/2.

Conor O’Dwyer’s wife Audrey said: “He is a lovely, lovely horse and he did what we thought he would do. Conor has always liked him. He is owned by Paddy McCormack from Naas who is on holidays in Spain at the moment.”

Ballyroe Rambler was second at 5/1, backed in from 7s. He was three and a half lengths ahead of 15/8 favourite The Pounds who had every chance, but couldn’t get involved in the final furlong. He had been supported from 9/4.

This was a first double for jockey Kevin Sexton (scored earlier on Sizing Australia and his 16th career success.

Jockey PJ O’Connor was on board backmarker Jimmy Golan who slipped up on the bend with a mile to race. He was taken to hospital as a precaution.

Additional reporting by Donal Murphy