SPANCILHILL trainer Noel Glynn had a welcome change of fortune when his 16/1 shot Flatfoot Boogie ran out an impressive winner of the corkracecourse.ie maiden hurdle at the Cork Racecourse, Mallow on Bank Holiday Monday.

Fourth in a similar event on his debut at Uttoxeter last month, Flatfoot Boogie was a lucky spare ride for Andrew McNamara who was a last minute replacement for the sidelined Andrew Lynch and it proved to be an inspired one as the pair sprung a surprise.
Always up with the pace in this two-mile, three-furlong event, Flatfoot Boogie poked his head in front with five to jump and the eight-year-old by King’s Theatre fought off all comers when staying on doggedly in the closing stages to beat the gambled-on Hilltop Tommy (5/1-13/8f) by a length.
A delighted Glynn, who was rewarded for his patience with the winner, reported, “This horse had a great run when fourth first time out and I’m not one bit surprised he’s won. I bought him as a yearling in France with the ill-fated Old McDonald and it has taken seven years to get a win with him. He has had his fair share of problems in the meantime, but the long wait has been worthwhile.
Glynn, who likes nothing better than to have a crack at the bookmakers when the odds are in his favour, continued, “He was a huge price today and I helped myself to a bit of that. We knew he was in serious order coming down here and the bit of nice ground was also a huge plus. I had him in at Galway last week but opted to wait for today instead and it has worked out great. If he okay after this, we’ll find a winners of one for him somewhere in the next few weeks.” 

Tycoon makes history at Ballybrit

BUSTED Tycoon created history by becoming the first horse ever to win three races at the Galway Festival, rounding off a tremendous week for her trainer Tony Martin with victory at Ballybrit last Sunday.
Successful in flat handicaps on Tuesday and Saturday, Busted Tycoon reverted to hurdles when going off 11/10 favourite under Ruby Walsh in the Vision Express Mares’ Hurdle and the daughter of Marju, who races in the colours of New York-based owner John Breslin, did it the hard way.
Settled in the rear, the teak tough four-year-old looked to have it all to do when making a hash of the final flight but Walsh, and the mare, were determined to claim their place in history with the champion jockey conjuring a late run from his willing partner, who responded in game fashion when getting up in the shadows of the post to beat runner-up Theonewiththeleg by half a length.
Martin had a superb week at the western venue and his haul of eight wins was most noteworthy. It  didn’t however earn him the accolade of leading trainer with that honour going to the unstoppable Dermot Weld, who finished the meeting with the impressive tally of 11wins.
Not surprisingly, the master of Rosewell House was the man to follow at Ballybrit and this year was the first time Weld trained a winner on all seven days of the meeting.
It was also a first for Tubber jockey Derek O’Connor who rode his initial winner for Weld, getting a late call-up to partner the successful Notable Graduate in Sunday’s Trappers Inn Maiden Hurdle.
Weld’s stable amateur, Robbie McNamara, was due to ride this Dr Ronan Lambe-owned even-money favourite but, with McNamara unable to do the weight, O’Connor came off the subs bench to do a superb job.
Not the easiest of rides, Notable Graduate had to be chased along to close the gap on the front-running The Black Russian who turned into the home straight with a healthy advantage. O’Connor got to work on the market leader, however, and with the post looming large he powered Notable Graduate home to master 20/1 shot The Black Russian by a length and a half.
O’Connor, who was on duty as a parade-ring analyst with Galway Bay FM during the week, reported, “He was on and off the bridle at bit during the race and didn’t jump the last as well as I would have liked him to. He picked up well when he had to though and showed guts when staying well to win.
“I was very lucky to get the ride and it’s great to have a winner at Galway during the festival. There is no better man to ride for around Galway than Mr Weld and that’s my first ever victory for him so that makes it extra special,” added the record-breaking Tubber rider.
Ruby Walsh took the leading National Hunt jockey award with five wins while Pat Smullen was crowned top jockey on the flat.

Memorable Plate for McManus

JP McManus’ green and gold hoops are the most instantly recognisable colours in jump racing and those silks dominated last week’s Tote.com Galway Plate with horses owned by the Limerick native filling the first three places.
McManus is well-known for liking a crack at the bookmakers too and, with that in mind, he got it very much right when Carlingford Lough, ridden by Tony McCoy, landed an old fashioned gamble.
Originally first reserve, the winner only got a run when the McManus-owned Like Your Style was a late withdrawal but the money was down on the seven-year-old, whose price tumbled from 11/2 into 5/2 favourite.
Those who supported the John Kiely-trained son of Carlingford Castle would have been worried as Quantativeasing surged to the front around the final bend, but MyCoy is noted for his never-say-die attitude and he got stuck into the favourite who poked his head in front inside the final 100 yards to beat Niall Madden’s mount by a length and a half.
To round off a great afternoon for McManus, the mare he purchased on the build-up to the race, Jackson’s Lady, filled third under Barry Geraghty with Noel Meade’s Muirhead back in fourth.
It also proved a memorable week for Cork trainer Michael Winters who claimed the Guinness Galway Hurdle for the second year in-a-row with his top mare Missunited.
Robbie Power came in for the ride on this prolific mare who, having gotten to the head of affairs on the downhill run to the home straight, stuck her neck out in resolute fashion to give the genial Kanturk trainer back-to-back victories in the richest handicap hurdle run anywhere in Europe this season. Winters had earlier that afternoon seen last season’s Galway Hurdle hero, Rebel Fitz, continue his smooth transition to fences when taking the valuable novice chase in the hands of Barry Geraghty.
The weather was undoubtedly a spoilsport during the week with Wednesday and Thursday the hardest hit. Incessant rain on Ladies’ Day meant that Thursday’s attendance was 27,669, down almost 10,000 on last year.
Overall, the meeting was a huge success with a total of 127,568 patrons passing through the turnstiles over the week. Betting figures held up well during the seven days, with the bookmakers handling €7,820,922 while the tote turned over €4,299,612.