ADO McGuinness has had lots of big wins. A Case Of You is the most obvious one, or two. A Group 1 win in France and a Group 1 win in Dubai. It doesn’t get much bigger than that.

Victram’s Imperial Cup was big, by virtue of the fact it was his first big win, a put-your-name-on-the-map kind of win. You could even throw in Beau Michael in there as well, because among his 15 wins was Grade 2 juvenile hurdle.

Change the adjective from big to important and there is a very strong case to be made for Saltonstall’s win the Colm Quinn BMW Mile in 2019.

It was important because it was the first major return from a change of philosophy at Skylark House, a new strategy that would upgrade the North Dublin operation from holding their own in the bear pit that is Irish racing, to being able to do that and box clever, to land some blows on the season.

Since Saltonstall, the big targets have been hit with more regularity. That year McGuinness would go on to send out 34 winners, his best ever tally. Among that success was another big premier handicap win, the Sovereign Path on Irish Champions Weekend, this time with Current Option.

Both Saltonstall and Current Option are owned by the Dooley brothers from Manchester and buoyed by the success, they’ve come to invest more with Ado, and the trainer has repaid them in spades. Saltonstall defended his title in the Colm Quinn the following season and Current Option took the Ahonoora Handicap on Sunday - a brilliant feature race double.

In fact Current Option has taken all three previous renewals of the Ahonoora, while Sirjack Thomas gave Ado and the Dooleys another win in the Colm Quinn. So when you combine both those handicaps, McGuinness and the Dooleys have won six of the last eight races - an incredible feat given just how competitive the fare is.

It’s no wonder McGuinness is more than happy to host a Galway launch in his Dublin base on Thursday morning.

“All the Dooley lads want is horses to run in premier handicaps and they love Galway,” the trainer proclaims, looking out on Saltonstall, Current Option et al, who are stretching their legs in the Irish Sea.

“There is no place like Galway to have a bit of fun and craic. A lot of our guys who are involved with horses, the Dooley brothers, Bart O’Sullivan, Jim Fairchild, James O’Sullivan, the Shamrock Thoroughbreds, they all love the place.

“The Dooleys are bringing 24 or 25 over this year. Two or three lads came over with them last year and I think there are about 15 coming over with them this year. It is just spiraling for those guys. They have a great time and it’s a great place to be for the week.”

And it’s not lost on McGuinness that it all started with Saltonstall, bought out of Mick Halford’s yard for €44,000, and a winner of over €250,000 since.

“Michael Schumacher never won the Grand Prix in a mini,” the trainer says, when asked about the role his success at Ballybrit has played for his current standing. “Unless you have the ammunition you’re in trouble. You could have the best trainer in the world but if they don’t have the ammunition. If you put Pep Guardiola in the fourth division, he’d probably end up staying down there.

“We had to go and find owners and get owners to spend more money. We target a certain type of horse, we can go to the sales and find those horses. Stephen does a lot of work at the sales to find these horses.

“We buy them to sell them. It’s all about upgrading and buying more in but you need the capital to do that and you have to show you can produce the results on the track.

“After Saltonstall won (first Colm Quinn) we were able to go out and buy more and more.”

The Lusk trainer expects to have a team of 15 to 20 horses to send to Ballybrit with plenty of them doubly entered.

“You have to travel at Galway,” McGuinness outlines. “The horses we have are mostly hardened handicappers so most of them will travel. The handicap is obviously key as well.

“We’re always trying to find horses with a mark that you can work with. And when you get those horses, you want to be winning the biggest races, the big premier handicaps.”

‘He is in cracking form and he just loves the place’

WE’LL target plenty at both the Colm Quinn (mile feature handicap on Tuesday) and “Ahonoora” (seven-furlong feature on Sunday). Aidan O’Brien often wins the Derby with his lesser fancied horses and you have a better chance of winning the lotto with more than one ticket.

Current Option will run in both races. He was third in the mile last season before winning the seven for the third year running. He’s quite a fresh and highly strung horse so if you just left him for one race, he could be very fresh.

Saltonstall will be one of our big hopes as well. The biggest problem I have is to try and hold his form for the next two weeks, he is in cracking form. It will be his sixth year in a row heading to Galway. He loves the place. He got murdered in the race last year but he ran really well on his previous run at Leopardstown and he was unlucky not to win the Irish Lincoln earlier this season. Adam (Caffrey) is going to ride him and we’re really looking forward to running him.

Casanova has probably been the unluckiest horse I’ve ever had in these premier handicaps. He was second in the Mile last year and second in the Ahonoora. He was placed in the Lincoln, placed in the Cambridgeshire, but he just can’t seem to get his head in front.

He was a little sore after his run on Irish Derby weekend, when the ground was a shade too quick, but I have him back right now and I think he’ll run a big race. He’ll go for the two races. The Mile race would be his forte, but he was placed at Tipperary over seven.

Sirjack Thomas is not going to get into the Mile but he will run in two handicaps over the week. He’s actually won twice down there and been placed twice. He loves it, so watch out for him wherever he shows up.

No More Porter runs in the Scurry this weekend at the Curragh. He might get a penalty which will get his rating up. He’ll run in one of the handicaps down there. Hightimeyouwon will run in one of the handicaps, although he’s probably not high enough to get into one of the bigger races. He’ll run in one of the mile or seven-furlong handicaps and needs quick ground.

Laugh A Minute has run very, very well for the last two years in the Ahonoora and he’ll go back for that. I’ve ran sprinters at Galway over the seven furlongs and they’ve run well. If you can put him asleep early doors, he will gallop up the hill and you wouldn’t think it because he’s a sprinter, but he’s come up the hill the last two years. The key to him is the ground. He needs a bit of cut in the ground.

The fast pace will really suit Half Nutz so he’ll have options. Exquisite Acclaim is another to look out for. He’s a strong traveller but doesn’t always find as much as you think.