Collins takes opener with well-fancied juvenile

The 5/4 favourite Livingston Range took the opening Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Maiden in the hands of Ronan Whelan.

The Equiano gelding tracked the front-running Zoom Call before taking over from that one with just over a furlong to race.

He kept on to beat the staying-on Mr Fayez by a length and three quarters, with Zoom Call another length and a quarter away in third.

The winner was sixth on debut at the Curragh last month behind the smart Monaasib, and had a couple of recent maiden winners behind him on that occasion. He’s a half-brother to five winners.

Winning trainer Tracey Collins said: "His maiden at the Curragh has worked out very well, there have been a good few winners come out of it, and he's come on from that race.

“It was back to the minimum trip today but he'll have no problem in stepping up. He handled the ground well but doesn't necessarily need that kind of ground.

“He was green too and will learn a lot from today. He's quite babyish, racing will improve him and hopefully he's going to go forward for us.

“He was home-bred by Cathy Grassick and that's her second runner and second winner.”

Additional reporting by Gary Carson