A look ahead to the Galway Festival

Strong entries for feature races at 2013 Galway Races

The entries for the the 2013 Galway Races Summer Festival - will take place from Monday 29th July to Sunday 4th August - were released today.

Galway hosts the richest National Hunt race to be staged in Ireland, the €260,000 ‘Galway Guinness Hurdle Handicap’ on Thursday, 1st August and trainers plans for the race are well advanced.

Gordon Elliott plans to have a strong hand in the Guinness Galway Hurdle and the Co.Meath trainer said “I have entered Cause Of Causes, Flaxen Flare and Shadow Catcher for the Guinness Galway Hurdle and the plan is for them all to run. Cause of Causes was second in the race last year and he won’t mind the drying ground and to be honest, all of mine will like the good ground. Flaxen Flare ran a lovely race on the flat at Killarney last week and that should leave him spot on for Galway. Shadow Catcher also appears to be in very good form”

Willie Mullins plans to run Security Breach in the Guinness Galway Hurdle “He has progressed well this season and he seemed to be appreciate the fast ground when he won well the last day at Gowran Park. We'll just have to see whether he will get in but he seems to be in very good form and being a 4-y-o he gets all the allowances”

Rawnaq has developed into a very capable handicapper this year and the 6-y-o heads to Ballybrit as a major contender for the Guinness Galway Hurdle. He is trained by rookie handler, Matthew Smith, who reported “He won well at Bellewstown and the plan is that he’ll go for the Guinness Galway Hurdle. He has improved a lot this season and went up to a rating of 134 after he won the last day, so hopefully that will be enough to help him get into the race. He has been a great horse for a small stable likes ours. He was placed on the flat around Galway last year, so we know that he likes the track. My brother Kevin will ride him and he is owned by my father (also Kevin). We have really enjoyed the last few months and I suppose it is a dream for a small outfit like ours to be heading to Galway for one of the biggest races of the week with a family owned horse”

Michael Winters, who won the Guinness Galway Hurdle last year with Rebel Fitz will be represented by the mare Missunited, who has developed into a stakes contender on the flat this season. “The plan is to run, but she just ran a bit flat the last day at Roscommon. The track up there would have been a bit tight for her. It was a very warm day and it was a long journey for her, but hopefully now we’ll have enough time to freshen her up for Galway. She’s rated 135 over hurdles and the ground up there should be fine for her. I suppose if she turns up in top form, we’d be in there with a great shout. Barry Geraghty has won on her and I am hoping that he’ll be free to ride her again” said Winters.

The €200,000 thetote.com Galway Plate features on Wednesday 31st July and all races on this day are sponsored by Tote Ireland.

Gordon Elliott plans to have as many as five runners in the thetote.com Galway Plate and he remarked “I have a good few entered for the thetote.com Galway Plate and whatever gets in will run. Carlito Brigante, Jamsie Hall, Romanesco, and Dantes King are all being aimed at the race. We will sort out jockeys for both races a bit closer to the time. Dantes Kings has done well for us of late and deserves to take his chance. They will all act on good ground and if they get a bit of luck on the day, you’d be hoping for big runs from them”

Tom Mullins, who won the thetote.com Galway Plate last season with Bob Lingo will have a very strong team for this year’s renewal and he said “Klepht will run and he ran well on the flat at Killarney recently. This race has been the plan since he won a nice handicap for us at Punchestown earlier this year. He is a good ground horse, so I thought the Plate would be a suitable target for him. I’ll also run Bob Lingo who won the race for us last year. He got bogged down on the heavy ground last winter and he couldn’t match up against the big boys, so we’ll switch him back to the Plate and we know that he likes Galway. He was good around there last year and he is another that likes good ground. Fosters Cross looked in great form with himself when he won on the flat at Leopardstown and he has won three times around Galway. He has won the big amateur handicap and he nearly won the Guinness Galway Hurdle, but this year I have had the Plate in mind for him and while he’ll have a few entries down there, I am more inclined to let him take his chance in the Plate”

Peter Bowen plans to run the progressive Kians Delight, who has won two of his three starts over fences and he said “he’s rated 132 and is in very good form. He should go well and he has had three runs in novice chases and goes on good ground. Tom O’Brien will probably ride him and I think he should handle the track. We’ve had runners at Galway before and we are looking forward to it”

Philip Hobbs will be represented in the thetote.com Galway Plate by The Disengager, who comes here on the back of an impressive victory at Stratford in May and he said “ He’ll run as long as the ground is not soft. This race has been the plan since he won at Stratford. He is very much at home on fast ground”

Michael Winters has yet to decide on a final target for last year’s Galway Hurdle winner Rebel Fitz. He holds an entry in the Galway Plate and Winters stated “We’ll see, but my worry is that if we get another very warm week, the heat and humidity up there might affect him. He was a bit flat the last day at Killarney, but he is fine again now. He is in the tote.com Galway Plate but we’ll put him in a novice chase as well. Barry Geraghty is due to come down and sit on him this week as well so we’ll more than likely make a final decision about which race he’ll run in next weekend”

Entries for the Topaz Mile also closed today and Tracey Collins stated that Captain Joy is a likely starter “He has been in great form all year and he ran a very good race when third in a stakes race at the Curragh on Derby weekend. He has plenty of weight, but likes good ground and I just hope that he gets a good draw”

Kevin Ryan may run last year’s runner up Pintura and remarked “He was second in the race last year and he’ll also get an entry in the big handicap on Saturday (which he won last year). However, he does need a cut in the ground and I’ll be keeping an eye on the weather for him. If that happens, ithe chances are that he’ll run”

Sabrina Harty will be represented by recent Curragh winner Ansgar and she commented “He is in great form but he has gone up to 105 which will make life tough for him, but he was very impressive when he won at The Curragh and I think he’ll handle the track, so if we get a bit of luck with the draw and get some nice ground, we’d be hopeful of a very big run from him”