Burns on fire! Teenager celebrates second winner as Denis Hogan gets up the forecast in opening Dundalk claimer

Leaving certificate student Nicola Burns swapped the books for the saddle on Wednesday as she doubled her career tally on Sporting Hero, who led home a 1-2 for the Denis Hogan stable in the opening claimer.

Burns celebrated her first winner at the Curragh last month when scoring on Genuine Jim, trained by her father Robbie, and the 16-year-old did not wait long to register a second.

Burns, claiming 10lb, came out the right side of a tight photo-finish with stablemate Land Lover, with the 11-2 shot scoring by a short head. 

Mags off the mark

A short head was also the winning margin in the mile handicap as the Kieran Cotter-trained Mags got up in the final stride to narrowly deny favourite Nakasero. 

Mags, sent off at 6-1, was keen in the early stages but still had enough in reserve to pounce late and get off the mark on her ninth outing under Shane Foley.

Declaree delivers at last

A frustrating sequence of placed efforts finally ended for Declaree, who belatedly opened her account at the ninth time of asking in the 7f maiden. 

The three-year-old filly has put in some big performances in defeat since making her debut back in April, but she was a beaten favourite at 8-15 at Fairyhouse in September. 

She was sent off odds-on again here at 4-7, but this time the Johnny Murtagh-trained filly made all for a comfortable victory under Danny Sheehy. 

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