DUNUM was hailed as a ‘horse of a lifetime’ by owner and joint-breeder Maurice Burns after notching a third Galway win in Tuesday’s Colm Quinn BMW Mile, and his connections would surely be in complete dreamland if he snared a second premier handicap of the week in tomorrow’s €110,000 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Ahonoora Handicap (4.00).

The star of Natalia Lupini’s Co Down stable will line out under a 7lb penalty in the feature on day seven at Ballybrit; replicating the 7lb rise he is due to get from the handicapper for his head success over Bear Profit earlier this week.

Seamie Heffernan was excellent from the front in dictating affairs from stall two then, and has again got a lovely draw to play with in stall three in their bid for a big-money double. Victory here would mean a second win in the Ahonoora for Dunum, having defied stall 17 here two years ago off a mark of 95 - technically 5lb lower than the rating off which he’ll compete this weekend.

That was the likeable seven-year-old’s second run of the festival in 2023, having finished a close third in the Mile earlier that week, so Lupini knows exactly what it takes to freshen up her flagbearer for two visits to the west of Ireland. She has already had him away to the seaside in a bid to have the early-market favourite in top shape for this assignment.

“All is good with him since Tuesday night,” Lupini told The Irish Field.

“It looks like he’s come out of the race well. We had him away to the beach on Wednesday to freshen him up and cool his legs, which was nice for him. We’re all set to head back to Galway again.”

The dangers are queuing up to challenge the course regular, however. Joseph O’Brien’s Princess Child, who finished second in the Listed Corrib Fillies Stakes for the second year in a row here on Thursday, is declared to run off a handicap rating of 91 and is entitled to be bang there if returning in similar form.

Premier form

Scurry Handicap 1-2, Go Athletico and Fort Vega, won’t have any issue with rain over the weekend and arrive here in fine form, while Gleneagle Bay has long been thought good enough to win a premier handicap. Even one of Dunum’s rivals from Tuesday night, the third-placed Orandi, is back to add the Ahonoora to his CV in a season that began with an Irish Lincoln win at the Curragh and close-up Lincoln third at Doncaster.

This race was won five times in a row by British runners from 2014 to 2018, and the visiting party for 2025 features Apiarist (Kevin Ryan), Partisan Hero (Dave Loughnane) and Persuasion (David and Nicola Barron).

Lupini added: “He’s got stall three; another nice draw, thankfully. We’ll leave it up to Seamie as to what he wants to do with him, but it looks a good draw if he wants to go forward again. We have full confidence in what Seamie thinks.

Another achievement

“He had already achieved so much before this week and it was another great result for him to win on Tuesday. He’s been a fantastic horse for everyone. No matter what happens this Sunday, he owes us nothing and we’ll be happy once he comes home safe and sound.”

Lupini was only narrowly denied in the Friday opener when Nazario was worn down close home in the two-year-old maiden, and she has another juvenile representative in Sunday’s seven-furlong Irish EBF Auction Series Maiden (4.30), Sutton Hoo.

Racing in the Pat O’Kelly colours, the Saxon Warrior colt is a half-brother to Tamam Desert, who won a two-year-old maiden at this track last autumn for Eoghan O’Neill. Lupini finished second in this race 12 months ago with another horse by the same sire, the now 92-rated Saint Brandon.

“We think Sutton Hoo is a nice horse,” said the trainer.

Advantage

“He’s been working well at home. This is obviously his first start and this track isn’t always easy for any two-year-old making their debut, so having experience would be an advantage heading here. He should learn plenty, though, and will improve from whatever he does here going forward.

“It’s lovely for us to have a horse for such a successful breeder like Miss O’Kelly. This is the first we’ve had for her and it’s fantastic to have her support.”