All roads lead to Ballybrit for world-famous festival

HAVE you any tips for Galway? That will be a much-used phrase over the next week or so as the world-famous Galway summer racing festival kicks into gear.
The seven-day extravaganza, which is estimated to be worth €50 million to the Western Region, kicks off on Monday evening and it will be helter skelter in around the City of the Tribes until proceedings come to a close at the Ballybrit course the following Sunday.
Monday’s action will kick off at 4pm and the feature race is the Carlton Hotel Galway Amateur Handicap, which is always a very competitive affair and a prestigious one to win with all our top amateur riders competing against each other.  
The Topaz Mile EBF Handicap tops the bill on Tuesday afternoon when the action will again get underway at 4pm.
Wednesday is Tote.ie Galway Plate day and this sees a mid-afternoon start time of 3pm with the Plate itself going to post at 5.25pm.
In recent years, Thursday, which is of course ladies’ day, has attracted the biggest crowds and that trend looks set to continue this time round. As always the Guinness Galway Hurdle will take centre stage and this is one of the most competitive handicaps of the entire season.
Action reverts to an evening slot for Friday with the first race going to post at 5.10pm, while Saturday’s card is due to start at 2.25pm.
Sunday is the seventh and final day of the festival and the white flag for the first race on that day will be raised at 2.15pm.
It promises to be yet another record-breaking week at Ballybrit and the thousands of national and overseas visitors who plan their holidays around this meeting will not be disappointed as the atmosphere will be electric around the packed enclosures.
Galway racecourse manger John Moloney and his hard-working team do a wonderful job each year planning and organising what is the flagship festival of Irish racing and they leave no stone unturned in their efforts to have every facility available for punters on their arrival.
Racecard competitions will offer valuable prizes each day at the track, while the best dressed lady competition, sponsored for the 10th year in-a-row by Anthony Ryan’s of Galway, will carry €20,000 worth of prizes and the judges will include former Miss Ireland, Roseanna Davidson.

Weld set to dominate again
WITH 52 races and over €1.6m on offer in prize money, action on-track at Ballybrit is likely to be ultra-competitive.
Certain trainers target this particular fixture and it is surely stating the obvious that Dermot Weld leads the field in that category.
Dubbed the uncrowned King of Galway due to his phenomenal record at the track, Weld knows exactly what type of horse is needed to handle the tricky undulations of the Ballybrit course and ever year, he puts together a very strong team for the meeting.
Last year, he surpassed even his own high standards when sending out a record-breaking 17 winners over the week and, while it might be a bit fanciful to say he can equal that, the master of Rosewell House must be a short price to at least hit double figures before the end of the week.
As always, much of the attention will focus on the two big races of the week, Wednesday’s Galway Plate and the Galway Hurdle on Thursday.
Last year, champion trainer Willie Mullins took the plate with Blazing Tempo and Rich Ricci’s mare will again be in the line-up this time round. She faces a big task with 13Ibs more on her back this time and not having been seen pulling-up at Cheltenham back in March but course form is a big factor and she must be on the short-list.
Mullins is also responsible for 8/1 ante-post favourite, Blackstairsmountain, who had a nice pipe-opener when scoring on the level at Bellewstown recently. Riding arrangements will be a pointer here with Ruby Walsh likely to opt for the more fancied of Mullins’ runners on the day that may also include the nicely weighted Raptor (10-2). 
Other Plate contenders to run the rule over are Gigginstown House runner Carlito Brigante, who despite being a novice, is fancied to run a big race for trainer Gordon Elliott and last year’s runner-up Wise Old Owl from the in-form John Kiely yard.
Top weight Follow The Plan is a Grade 1 winner but he has a big burden with 11-10 on his back, while Bob Lingo from the Tom Mullins yard catches the eye off a nice mark of 10-2.
Thursday’s hurdle sees last year’s talking horse The Real Article with top weight of 11-10. Edward O’Grady’s charge went off favourite 12 months ago and has been the subject of much debate following a controversial effort on his previous outing at Tipperary.
Despite being deemed 18Ib well-in, he could only manage fourth on that occasion with 9-10 on his back so it would be a surprise if he were to prove good enough this year.
English raider Lexi’s Boy is likely to go off favourite with his trainer Donald McCain well aware of what it takes to land this valuable pot having done so back in 2010 with Overturn.
This particular event can be a minefield but one to bear in mind is last Sunday’s impressive Tipperary winner Rebel Fitz. Trained in County Cork by Mikey Winters, this French-bred is classy and, having won a bumper over this course in October 2010, he again ran well here when second in a novice hurdle at last year’s festival. He did get a bit buzzed up on that occasion, which probably cost him, but there has been money for him during the week and he will go there with a lot of confidence behind him.
Last year’s hurdle winner, Moon Dice, is reported to be on course to defend his title for Longford trainer Paul Flynn, while Captain Cee Bee is another near the top of the weights who is capable of a big run.
While there is bound to be a few shocks during the week, especially if the recent wet spell keeps up, at the end of the day, it will probably be best to follow all the leading lights in both codes if one is to have a successful Galway.
On the jumping front, jockeys like Ruby Walsh, Davy Russell, Barry Geraghty and Robbie Power will have the backing of all the top trainers, which will surely see them visit the winners’ enclosure more than once during the week. Sadly, the injury-prone Paul Carberry will have to sit out the meeting having fractured his shoulder blade in a fall at Killarney last week.
Father-and-son combination, Aidan and Joseph O’Brien, will feature strongly on the flat, with Kevin Prendergast, John Oxx and Jim Bolger unlikely to leave the western venue empty-handed. Pat Smullen (who rides most of the Weld horses), Fran Berry, Chris Hayes and Wayne Lordan are jockeys whose names will surely crop up where the flat is concerned. 
Glynn and Quinn hit
the target
LOCAL trainers, Noel Glynn and Denis Quinn, had reason to celebrate when they both saddled winners over the past week.
Glynn, based at Durra House in Spancilhill, is no stranger to cross-channel raids and his colours were carried to success at Cartmel last Saturday as multiple champion point-to-point rider Derek O’Connor steered the gambled-on Inamalabalusallon to victory.
Backed from 5/1 to 9/4 favourite for a 10-runner three and quarter mile handicap chase, dual point-to-point winner Inamalabalusaloon, hit the front with a furlong to run and stayed on gallantly from there to beat runner-up Antonius Caesar by a length and a quarter.
This was a fine effort by the winner who has certainly benefited from the care and attention given to him by Esther Wright who works for Glynn at his well-appointed stables.
She was in charge of the seven-year-old by Luso when he won his maiden at Ballingarry on the final day of the 2010/11 season and again when he followed up in a winners’ race at Dawstown in Cork back in May. On the basis of last Saturday’s evidence, Inamalabalusaloon is capable of further success and should be able to add to his tally over the summer.
Sixmilebridge trainer Denis Quinn also landed a bit of touch when his Bill The Yank stepped up on his previous form to land the Ballinrobe Rugby Football Club handicap hurdle at Ballinrobe on Monday evening.
Runner-up in a point-to-point at Ballingarry in 2011, Bill The Yank hadn’t shown much in the interim but Quinn had his charge spot-on for this contest and, having been supported from 14/1 into half those odds, he quickened up nicely from two out under jockey Barry Cash to beat runner-up Shesonlyahorse by 11 lengths.
The winner, who is owned by County Limerick publican John Ryan, is Galway-bound according to Quinn, who said, “Bill The Yank is a nice horse and has been a bit unlucky up to now. Barry [Cash] gave him a great ride as he had him up there and that made all the difference. He’ll go to Galway on the Friday evening for the Amateur Riders’ Handicap Hurdle now and I’ll also be running Royal Recruit [fourth first time out at Roscommon] there in the bumper on Monday evening.” 

Galway Races competition winners
The correct answer was: Dermot Weld
Maureen Cullinan, Kilkishen; Noel O’Grady, Tubber; Helen Keane, Kinvarra, County Galway; Jarleth Walsh, Newmarket-on-Fergus; Helen Houlihan, Ennistymon; Catherine McCarthy, Mullagh; Darragh McNulty, Tulla Road, Ennis.