Mohawk Chief well up for a battle

Mohawk Chief rallied strongly for Seamie Heffernan to land the colts and geldings juvenile maiden at Leopardstown.

The easy-to-back 17/2 chance led and disputed over this seven-furlong trip. He had a host of challengers on his heels racing to the two pole, but was shaken up by Heffernan passing it and soon increased his advantage.

The 11/8 favourite, Livio Milo burst out of the pack to race past him approaching the final furlong and looked as though he would go on.

However, Mohawk Chief refused to go down without a fight. He found plenty on the rail and edged back in front in the final 100 yards. From there, he came home the strongest to crack Livio Milo by a head. The pair raced clear of third-placed Space Age at 150/1.

Stable representative Chris Armstrong said: “He had an okay run in Listowel (in seventh), Wayne (Lordan) liked him, but he just jumped slowly. He has come forward plenty from it at home.

“He's by Quality Road, one of the top American stallions, the same sire as Cairo who is going the right way.

“Seamus liked him, he said he got to control it from the front. He'll be a nice horse for next year and will hopefully come back here for one of the Guineas trials.

“He has a good attitude and he battled hard.”

Additional reporting by Gary Carson