Don’t Forget About Galway Amidst The Olympics…

July 30, 2012 Leave a comment

 

The Olympic Games might well be underway but that will be nowhere near enough to stop the best part of 250,000 racing fans from both sides of the Irish Sea heading Galway Races this week for the annual seven day Summer Festival at the Ballybrit Racecourse.

The Streets of Galway after Racing…

Situated on the outskirts of GalwayCity, the Racecourse has been hosting the Summer Festival since it first began in 1869 and has seen it convert into a pilgrimage for many. They go each year to witness the best of both the Irish National Hunt and Irish Flat Racing and do so with the word “Party” very much in mind. They love the racing, of course they do, but the atmosphere engendered during the festival is every bit as important. I was lucky enough to go in 2010 and the scenes on Quay Street in the evenings after the racing was often more akin to Magaluf than those you’d expect from a crowd of racegoers!

Race after race ensues, from the first day, Monday 30th July (this year) until the final day on Sunday 5th August. Some days the racing takes place during the day while on others, evening meetings are the order. This allows for a little breathing space during the week.

Whilst the horses are doing their utmost on the course, the army of entertainers are doing the same off it. Horse racing to a backdrop of traditional music and dance is guaranteed to create the party atmosphere the festival is famed for. Laughter, cheer, song, and dance are common practices of all at the Festival, as is the optimism of punters who rarely show fear when backing their selections. Fashion these days also plays a very important role at the Festival and this year, Ladies Day is on Thursday 2nd August.

In all, there are 51 races spread over the seven days, with a feature race being held each day. However, the Festival of course first came into prominence with the emergence of the ‘Galway Plate’ one of the most famous handicap National Hunt races in Ireland. This is the feature race of the entire week and it takes place on Wednesday, August 1st (Day 3).

The ‘Plate’ was won in 2011 by Blazing Tempo, trained by Willie Mullins, and he could be in the field once again this time around. That said, Mullins has the more fancied Blackstairmountain as his main representative and could run Blazing Tempo in the Galway Hurdle the following day. There was only one entry from the UK, which is a pity as the race has been won by both Phillip Hobbs and Paul Nicholls in the recent past. This time, the UK National Hunt interest will be represented by Made In Time, trained in South Wales by Rebecca Curtis.

Top of the support bill on the racecards is the Galway Hurdle, which takes place on Ladies Day. This race is almost certain to be one of the most competitive of the week, with virtually the entire field in with chances of some description. Amongst the favourites will be the Donald McCain trained, Lexi’s Boy, who will be looking to emulate stablemate Overturn who won this great race in 2010.

It is impossible to close an article on the Galway Festival without mentioning the great Dermot Weld, his training success’s at the Summer Festival are beyond legendary they are beyond belief. Last year the County Kildare trainer his the target 17 times bettering his previous best of 11 by 6. 17 winners of course represents one third of all the entire racecard and whilst he might struggle to get too close to that this year, he is certain to finish top trainer and is the man as always, to follow.

Filed under Dermont Weld, Galway, Latest Racing News, Willie Mullins Tagged with , , , , , , ,

2012 Supreme Novices Hurdle Offers Little Antepost Value

January 11, 2012 Leave a comment

Despite just nine weeks to go before the Cheltenham Festival, there is still enough time for trainers to establish the credentials of the intended runners. That said, one race that is becoming increasingly difficult to fathom is the ‘curtain raiser’, the Supreme Novices Hurdle.

The current 10/1 favourite is the Jessica Harrington trained, Irish raider, Steps To Freedom, whose win in the Grade 2 Sharp Novice Hurdle back in November marked him down as possibly the one to beat. However, the second horse in that race, Prospect Wells, who finished just a ½ length home ‘blotted his copy book’ last weekend when he trailed in a well beaten 4th in the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle over 2m1f at Sandown. He finished 20 lengths adrift of the winner, Captain Conan, who was making his UK debut after joining the Nicky Henderson earlier this year and was also the same distance behind the Phillip Hobbs trained Colour Squadron who finished a short head down in second place.

On that form, both Captain Conan and Colour Squadron, who should both improve hugely for the run, should have the beating of Steps To Freedom. However, the bookmakers were clearly unimpressed by the outcome of the Tolworth and have installed Captain Conan and Colour Squadron only as 16/1 shots for the Supreme.

Second favourite in fact for the Festival’s opening race is the Dermot Weld trained and JP McManus owned Waaheb with odds of 12/1, but he has yet to be tested over hurdles having had his career to date confined to Bumpers given he has not run this season. He has won three of four Bumpers but until he is seen over hurdles then surely it would be unwise to back him antepost but stable confidence does seem to be high and it will be worth watching him.

Nicky Henderson also has a second and third ‘strings to his bow’ in the form of Darlan, a five year old who is unbeaten in one start in a ‘bumper’ last season and three over novice hurdles this term including a win at Taunton on Monday, the Seven Barrows yard also have the option to run Simonsig, second in a Grade 2 over 2m4f at Sandown Park last month. Darlan is also owned by JP McManus and this son of Milan looks to have plenty of potential but has yet to run in a graded race. He is a 12/1 chance for the race, the same price as Simonsig, who ran a great race when second behind Neptune Investment Management Hurdle favourite, Fingal Bay in that Sandown Grade 2.

Perhaps one horse to take serious note of is the Edward O’Grady trained, Cash And Go, winner last time out of the Grade 1 Future Champions Novice Hurdle over 2 miles at Leopardstown over the Christmas period. That win followed two earlier wins this season in a 4YO Hurdle in November and a maiden Hurdle in October. He too is 16/1.

Galileo’s Choice, also a 16/1 shot and also trained by Dermot Weld was an eye-catching second behind the Willie Mullins trained Sous Les Cieux in the Grade 1 Royal Bond Novice hurdle at Fairyhouse at the beginning of December. However, before that he had won in a Group 3 on the flat over ten furlongs at Leopardstown. Sous Les Cieux however was unable frank that form or to further his ‘Supreme Hurdle’ prospects by finishing only third behind Cash And Go in the Future Champions Novice Hurdle. Nonetheless Galileo’s Choice is sure to improve and is one horse at least that is worth following as a potential Supreme Novice Hurdler as the build up Cheltenham gets underway in earnest.

As it stands, the 2012 Supreme Novices Hurdle doesn’t appear to offer a great deal of antepost opportunity and it’s probably best to wait until nearer the Festival starting or the day itself before deciding who to back.

Filed under Cheltenham, Cheltenham Festival Races, Cheltenham Festival Trials, Dermont Weld, Latest Racing News, Nicky Henderson, Supreme Novices Hurdle Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Weld Dominates Galway Festival With Record 17 Winners

August 2, 2011 Leave a comment

More often than not the Galway Festival is all about the Galway Plate, the Galway Hurdle and the irrepressible Dermot Weld and that has proven to be the case once again in 2011.

The two feature races had been declared as major targets for Weld this year but Majestic Concorde, who was having his first run since Unseating his rider in the Aintree Grand National was forced to pull up after jockey, Paul Carberry, lost his irons in the Galway Plate on Wednesday. More disappointed followed for the ‘Master of Rosewell’ when his Hidden Universe finished well down the field after making a bad mistake two out in the Galway Hurdle on Thursday.

Apart from those disappointments, Weld dominated the Galway Festival with a record breaking seventeen winners, six better than his previous best of eleven achieved 12 months ago. The performance of the stable was truly incredible and won Weld his 27th title as top Trainer at the Festival.

His first win came on the opening day with the two year old Riviera Poet who turned over the hot odds on favourite Learn, trained by Aidan O’Brien and thought to be a good Ballydoyle prospect.

Hat tricks followed on Days two and three, but exceeded even those performances with a four timer on Thursday with the highlight being the success of Rock Critic in the valuable, Ladbrokes Biggest names in Racing Handicap. That performance by the 10/11 jolly had punters racing to the Bookmakers stands to collect their winnings, much to the delight of Weld who loves to be the punters friend.

Only two more winners came on Friday, but Weld was to send the punters into ecstasy on Saturday with a third hat trick of the meeting. His 17th and final winner came on Sunday when Comedic Art took the honours in the penultimate race of the meeting.

Top jockey at the Festival this year was once again Pat Smullen who won the top flat jockey and who rode a record of 12 winners, all for Weld, while it was Robbie McNamara who had Weld to thank for him lifting the top National Hunt Jockey award with 4 winners.

The organisers reported that the Festival’s crowd was just 4,000 down on last year’s attendances with 146,847 attending over the seven days. An average of just over 20,000 per day. This is thought to be very encouraging particularly in light of the current economic climate. Bookmakers by and large reported that turnover was 10% down on last year, while the Tote Ireland reported it was down by over 13%, which is a slightly worrying trend.

Filed under Dermont Weld, Galway, Grand National, National Hunt Races Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.