Tote Galway Plate team

Easy Game has good form around Galway and finished second in the Plate three years ago. He likes the track. He’s probably getting on a bit now but any horse who likes Galway is a positive. Authorized Art hasn’t run for a while [since finishing third in a Grade 3 handicap chase at the Punchestown Festival], but he has his chance. Mister Policeman has sort of disappointed me. I thought a lot of him, so we have stuck him in here. Hopefully, he will come good in this race.

Guinness Galway Hurdle team

Winter Fog is our top-weighted horse. He’s got a mark of 152; Saldier and Aramon won it off 155 but it is hard to win off that high a mark. He’s 10 years old, the same age as Tudor City when winning the race a couple of years ago, so it can be done. He’s got an awful lot of speed and has won around the track - that’s a big help for him. Daddy Long Legs would have probably been our number one hope going through the summer. Obviously he disappointed at Tipperary last time. There was no real obvious reason for the run.

It was wellwatered ground, which is fair enough, and maybe he didn’t handle it. All of his wins have been right-handed, and his couple of bad runs have been left-handed. There’s no real reason why that should be a cause for concern, but if he came back to his best, he’s the possible Grade 1 horse in a handicap. You can draw a line through a run that’s too bad to be true. He could be the Aramon, Saldier or Sharjah who goes on from this race and becomes a Grade 1 or Grade 2 level horse. I’d forgive him and, for me, he’s probably our number one chance.

Bialystok is a very fast horse. I’d have a little query about him coming up the hill. Anotherway has a great profile, being a novice coming forward, a bit like Zarak The Brave or Sharjah. He’d have to have a squeak. Rath Gaul Boy was beaten in a maiden hurdle there last year. I’m not entirely sure he’s a real two-miler, but obviously the hill at Galway brings stamina into it, and he stays very well.

He has a lovely weight. Williamstowndancer is the one who catches my eye down the bottom of the weights. She disappointed at Galway last year but made a bad mistake. She won on the flat recently and has just 10st 4lb on her back. She could be unexposed, though you’d ideally have loved a run over hurdles this season. Arctic Fly won the race she was beaten in here last year and gets in off a lower weight so you’d have to be interested in her also. Gaucher has a very high-class flat pedigree. I’d just worry he could be keen for the razzmatazz and buzz of a Galway Hurdle.

Icare Desbois, right down the bottom, was very unlucky when unseating at Killarney. He got a big hike for that so would have to improve again.

*Galway Hurdle quotes from Patrick Mullins via Galway Races/Dave Keena.

My Mate Mozzie

He has an entry in a mile-and-a-half Guinness Premier Handicap [on Friday] and the Galway Hurdle [on Thursday], which he finished third in last year. I’m not certain what direction he’s going to go. We’d like to go to the Ebor as well, but he probably will run at Galway first. He ran well at Ascot [when third in the Copper Horse Handicap] and that’s a little bit the story of his life – running well without getting his head in front. He’s been a great horse for us and deserves a big one.

Jesse Evans

He’s gone close in the last three Galway Hurdles [finishing second in the last two runnings and fourth a year earlier] and the task gets tougher for him each time in terms of his mark rising. We’ll try it again with him anyway. We had actually considered sending him over fences because he jumps really well but we’ll leave that for another while. He ran well at Leopardstown on his first start back on the flat the other day, we were delighted with him.

Tote Galway Plate team

We have three entries and they are all intended runners. Pinkerton was good in winning a handicap chase at the Punchestown Festival over two miles last time. We’re not sure about this longer trip for him but we have to try it with him sometime. He’d like an ease in the ground. Idas Boy won at 40/1 last time in the Midlands National but it shouldn’t have been such a big shock because he was travelling like a winner when coming down at Punchestown previously. I wasn’t sure Kilbeggan would suit him, that it might be too sharp for him, but Michael [O’Leary] was wanting him to run and we said he’d take his chance. He’s gone up 7lb, which makes life tough, but with [the top-weight Ash Tree Meadow] staying in it sort of throws us in with a chance. Flanking Maneuver isn’t certain to get in and will go for the Blazers Handicap Chase on Friday if he doesn’t.

Dunum

He’s always run well at Galway and the plan is to go back for the Ahonoora Handicap on the Sunday. We’re hoping he’ll hit good form there again. He’s been in good form this year, though he’s been on a tough mark for premier handicaps earlier in the season. He likes Galway and is down a couple of pounds so we’re thinking the handicapper has given him a bit of a chance in the Ahonoora. He worked at the Curragh on Tuesday and we were very happy with him. Hopefully he can run a nice race for us again. He likes an ease in the ground.

Admiral Churchill

Galway was good to us last year and hopefully we’re bringing a nice team back. Admiral Churchill is a nice horse who came from the breeze-ups [for €200,000 at Arqana] and it all happened a bit quick for him over six furlongs on his debut at the Curragh [when seventh of 14 runners behind Beckman]. I think seven furlongs around Galway in the two-year-old maiden, with slightly easier ground, should suit. The ground was quick enough that night and I didn’t think he loved it. He’s one we particularly like and hopefully he’ll give a good account.

Erzindjan

He’s having his first start for us after coming back from Dubai in the spring, so it’s an unusual preparation going into the Colm Quinn BMW Mile on Tuesday. He’s a horse we like and we’re delighted to have him for Mohammed Al Suboosi. I think, being back in handicap company, he should give a good account of himself. He ran some very good races in Dubai, he ran at Group 1 level, and hopefully back in handicap level he can show his worth.

Lady Mairen

We’re hoping to run her in the seven-furlong fillies’ maiden on Tuesday. She’s a nice type by Dubawi who is ready to start. Hopefully she can run a nice race.

One Look

She’ll have an entry, alongside Nelda, in the Listed Arthur Guinness Irish EBF Corrib Fillies’ Stakes on Thursday. We’ll see nearer the time about who we end up running. At the moment, I’d imagine it’ll be One Look heading there for us. She seems to be in good form again after a bit of a blip in the spring. She seems back on her ‘A’ game. She wasn’t in great form this spring - she wasn’t the same filly as last autumn. We maybe felt obliged to run her in a Guineas Trial [at Leopardstown when sixth of seven runners in May], it being before the Guineas, but it didn’t work out and we gave her an easy time afterwards. She seems to have bounced back and we’re happy with her. She’s training well and we’re looking forward to Galway with her on Thursday.

Alto Sax

We claimed him for a syndicate and friends of ours after winning at Fairyhouse last time for Ger Lyons. He had an ideal rating to run at Galway, and the group have been lucky with horses before so we claimed him with this week in mind. There’s a chance he could run a couple of times down there, we’ll see what he gets into. If the ground stays quick and he manages to get into the seven-furlong handicap on Monday, I think he’ll have a great chance.

Ambitious Fellow

He loves Galway and has run big races there before. We went to Wexford the other day to get a good run over fences into him before we headed on to Galway but it kind of blew up in our faces a little bit; he over-jumped the first fence and got a fright before backing off the next couple [and pulling up]. In fairness, Sam [Ewing] has been down to do plenty of schooling with him since and he’s definitely getting his confidence back. If things stay going smoothly, there’s a good chance he’ll run in the beginners’ chase over two miles and six furlongs on Thursday.

The Big Doyen

He’s a possible runner in the two-mile-and-two-furlong beginners’ chase on Tuesday. I wasn’t overly disappointed by his first run over fences at Kilbeggan [when fourth], they went very quick up front, but I was a little disappointed he didn’t finish out his race at Tipperary since. Everything seems to be going all right at home but I don’t want to go down there with him and give him a hard race unless we think he’s 110%. At the moment, it’s definitely on our radar.

Possible runners for Tote-Irish EBF Mares Handicap Hurdle

We won this race on the Wednesday last year with A Law Of Her Own and, funnily enough, we might have her there to run again. She came back to the yard a couple of weeks ago [having switched stables earlier this year to race with Dan Skelton] and seems to be going okay but we’ll make our minds up closer to it. We have a couple of others as possibles. Miss Fourie was running a cracker last time at Sligo when a loose horse went in front of her and she hung off the bend a bit. We ended up winning the race with Gone For Tea, and there’s a good chance she could join them at Galway as well.

Born By The Sea

He’s not the horse he was but there’s only one Galway Plate and, as the old saying of horses for courses goes, he always turns up to run well at Galway. I think he’ll do his best work at the finish if they haven’t gone too far from him. If he doesn’t get into the Plate, he’ll head for the Blazers [Handicap Chase on Friday]. He’s been a horse of a lifetime for us. Our four young lads have ridden him in a race, he’s been around a Grand National at Aintree and a charity race for a good friend of ours too.

Kings Hill

He definitely gets into the Galway Hurdle, which is a big plus, and is coming off a nice run from Leopardstown. Once too much rain doesn’t come, hopefully he’ll have a bit of a chance. I was delighted with how he ran at the Punchestown Festival [when fourth] and he now has plenty of experience heading to Galway. He seems in good shape and we’re looking forward to Thursday. This has been the plan since Punchestown.

Zeeband

I had planned on running him in the Connacht Hotel Qualified Riders Handicap on the Monday before running in the BoyleSports Handicap Hurdle on the Saturday, but because he missed his target at Killarney due to the ground being too quick he’s not qualified to run on the first night. That’s not the end of the world and he’ll go over two miles and six furlongs now. He seems in good form and has won four of his last six starts. He got 8lb for winning over hurdles at Killarney so runs off 11st 3lb. The day after we bought him [for 18,000gns in July 2022], you might have thought we gave a lot of money for him when he had a leg [injury], but he wouldn’t have been affordable without the injury. After he got a bit of time, he’s worked out quite well and hopefully he’ll stay progressing. I think he’s my best chance this week.

Castleheath

It didn’t work out for him on his debut at Navan [when sixth of 12 runners] and Declan McDonogh minded him. We were hoping he’d run well the next day in a maiden at Sligo and we were delighted that he won. I think he’s in very much the same mould as Bottler’secret, who won a maiden for us at Galway last year. The entry for the mile-and-a-half handicap there on Monday looks very strong but we’ll let him take his chance. Whatever he does at Galway, we think he’ll step forward from there into the rest of the season.

Dupont Law

We think he’s a very nice two-year-old for the future and he could run in a maiden later in the week. A big gelding by Le Havre, he mightn’t necessarily be one for the here and now but hopefully he’ll be coming up the hill and can progress.

Titanium

He’s an exciting horse for us who we sourced from France; David Skelly helped to buy him for us at Arqana in February [for €80,000]. We’ve taken our time with him - the ground has been quick during the summer and we know he needs a cut in it. I know he’s quite high in the weights for the Colm Quinn BMW Mile on Tuesday but he’ll be able to pitch up in those premier handicaps and we took the view that his year begins from Galway onwards.

Walhaan

We’re happy with him at home. It’s no secret that our horses have been quiet and we’ve given them time with this meeting in mind. Walhaan has plenty of options at Galway but if he gets in at the bottom of the Guinness Premier Handicap on Friday, we could claim off him and have a go. He’s a very versatile horse whose best trip on the flat is probably 10 furlongs, but with things happening quickly at Galway, he could be interesting over a mile and a half coming up the hill.