Galway Day 4: Key Hurdle Trends To Note

Trainers to follow

Only three trainers have won this race in the last decade and that’s an alarming statistic for most of them. Willie Mullins has won it five times during this period, which will be a surprise to no one, while handicap specialist Tony Martin has three successes to his name.

Joseph O’Brien has won it twice, including last season’s renewal, and he has been in very good form recently. He trains Cheltenham Festival winner Puturhandstogether and the four-year-old currently heads the market for the race.

Who is the jockey to watch?

Willie Mullins is the dominant force among the training ranks, having won five of the last 10 renewals, but first-choice jockey Paul Townend has only been on board for one of those. It’s leading amateur rider Patrick Mullins who has ridden the majority of those, with three victories.

It’s perhaps not Willie Mullins’ first string runner who you want to watch with that in mind. Patrick won Sharjah in 2018, Aramon in 2020 and Saldier a year later.

The trends suggest the big name jockeys tend to thrive and only one conditional rider has come out on top in the last decade.

Age trends

Speaking of four-year-olds, each of the last two winners were four and several are prominent in the market currently.

Older horses tend to struggle a little as eight of the last 10 winners were between the ages of four and seven.

Tudor City was the only 10-year-old to win it in the last decade and the Ruby Walsh-ridden Clondaw Warrior won as a nine-year-old for Willie Mullins back in 2016.

Class is key

This race is a thoroughly competitive affair, but carrying big weights hasn’t been an obstacle to victory in recent years. Six of the last 10 winners were rated 140 or higher and the lowest rated winner was 136.

Gordon Elliott ’s Bowensonfire is rated 131 and that suggests it’ll be difficult for him to come out on top, although he arrives in good form after winning well at Bellewstown recently.

The first five in the betting are all rated 140 or higher so we could have a well fancied winner.

Trends pick

Whilst trends aren’t the be all and end all, they do suggest that we can expect a big run from PUTURHANDSTOGETHER.

Trained by Joseph O’Brien, the four-year-old already has a big handicap win to his name and there’s plenty in his favour according to recent history.

The action at Glorious Goodwood continues at pace on Thursday, with day three of the festival headlined by the Group 1 Qatar Nassau Stakes.

There is another smattering of Irish interest in the action at Goodwood and we are taking a look at the Irish runners headed for the Sussex Downs on Thursday.