Galway Races: Most Successful Trainers To Follow

The Galway Festival is one of the highlights of the summer and the seven-day extravaganza takes place next week.

Famous for its excellent atmosphere alongside the competitive racing, racegoers never come away disappointed.

We’ve got plenty to look forward to, with the Galway Plate and Galway Hurdle being the main events, but there’s also some excellent Flat action on the agenda too.

There are certain names who are likely to come to the fore such as Aidan O’Brien and Willie Mullins, but we’ve instead decided to pick out some lesser known trainers who could spring a surprise or two next week.

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Ross O’Sullivan

Not one of the biggest names around, Ross O’Sullivan has proven himself to be a shrewd operator across both codes and that could pay dividends at Galway. He had several winners at the meeting last year but remains under the radar.

He’s certainly one to look out for in some of the handicaps and could very well come away with a few winners. O’Sullivan doesn’t train a large number of horses but has a fairly decent record with that in mind.

Noel Meade

Noel Meade is a vastly experienced trainer and has been in pretty good form in the last fortnight or so. Perhaps more known for his National Hunt exploits, he has had plenty of Flat runners in recent seasons and will be a danger across both codes.

He managed to win the Galway Plate last year with Pinkerton and that makes his potential runners worth keeping an eye on. Jesse Evans could run in the Galway Hurdle and an ante-post price of around 12/1 certainly isn’t farfetched.

Tony Martin

Tony Martin is the handicap king and a shrewd operator certainly knows how to prepare a horse for specific targets. The betting is often quite telling with regards to his runners and if the money comes, you can anticipate some big performances.

Two-mile handicap hurdles have long been his specialty and he has won the Galway Hurdle four times since 2014. You would imagine he’ll be represented once again with that in mind and he’ll be dangerous in handicaps on the Flat too.

Jessica Harrington

Jessica Harrington is one of the best dual purpose trainers in the last 20 years or so and has trained many winners at Cheltenham and Royal Ascot. Perhaps results haven’t quite gone her way this season and she may sneak under the radar as a result.

She trained four winners at the Galway Festival in 2024, including a double on one of the days. There have been some recent signs of a return to form and she has had five winners in the last fortnight, so it would be unwise to rule her out.

Joseph O’Brien

It’s perhaps a little cheeky to include Joseph O’Brien as an under the radar trainer, but he performed exceptionally well at last year’s Galway Festival.

He doesn’t have the same profile as Willie Mullins and his father Aidan, but is well set to give them a run for their money. Nurburgring won the Galway Hurdle in 2024 and is currently the ante-post market leader for the Galway Plate, which would be a unique double to pull off.

It seems very likely that he will have winners on the Flat too and therefore has a solid chance of being top trainer.