Fahey eyeing Galway Hurdle with Belfast Banter Peter Fahey feels the ideal race for Belfast Banter could be the Galway Hurdle. The bottom weight caused a 33-1 shock in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham last week, arriving on the scene still on the bridle. He was providing Fahey and Kevin Sexton with their first winner at the meeting and they now have further riches in their sights. “The County was a race we always thought would suit, but we were running him in the wrong type of races really, just to try to get him up a bit in the weights,” said Fahey. “We thought he’d run a big race, but what did surprise us was how well he finished off his race. “It was a fast-run race, he had bottom weight and it all came together. It was a great performance. “He ran a good race at Ascot in December, but it’s hard to make up ground at Ascot — at Cheltenham you can ride for a bit more luck. It definitely is the way to ride him. “Those good handicaps are ideal for him, but watching it I still wasn’t convinced he was going to go through with it, as in the back of my mind I still thought he was a bit soft! “I watched the race with my wife and kids and that was a good craic. “We’ll see what the handicapper does, but really I want to go for the Galway Hurdle with him. He’s won round there and it’s a race they go very quick. He travels and jumps so it’s a race that should suit, it’s huge prize money as well.” Earlier in the week Fahey had seen the other side of the coin with Royal Kahala disappointing as favourite in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. “She’s finished for the season now. She’s going to the vets, who are going to have a good look at her and see what the problem was. She’ll be back in the autumn,” said Fahey. “She’d disappointed the time before Cheltenham a little, but we thought we’d sorted out the problem — obviously we hadn’t. “She’ll stay over hurdles and we’ll look forward to the autumn with her.”
