Get Ready for Galway: Top Jockeys to Watch

We don’t have long to wait until the Galway Festival is upon us and Day 1 kicks off on Monday. There will be seven days of thoroughly competitive racing to enjoy, across both codes. It’s always worth looking forward to and there are lots of opportunities to back a winner or two.

Form can change quickly but it’s worth taking a look at which jockeys are arriving at Galway in good nick. With that in mind, we’ve picked out a number of riders that could be worth following ahead of the big summer festival.

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Darragh O’Keefe

This jockey got a promotion a few months ago, after Rachael Blackmore’s retirement, and he’s now Henry de Bromhead’s main man. De Bromhead is sure to have plenty of big chances throughout the week and both the Galway Plate and the Galway Hurdle should be on the agenda.

O’Keefe has been operating at a strike-rate of 21 per cent or so in the last fortnight and will surely have a significant number of opportunities across the week.

JJ Slevin

Isaac Souede and Simon Munir are likely to have some major chances at Galway and that suggests their retained rider JJ Slevin could have a good week. Mr Percy is very prominent in the betting for the Galway Hurdle and Slevin will take the ride should he line up.

Slevin was also on board Nurburgring who won the race last year, and there’s every chance he’ll get the ride again as he’s set to run in the Galway Plate this time around.

You wouldn’t want to rule out a big race double for Slevin, and more winners could be on the cards due to his association with the in-form Joseph O’Brien.

Dylan Browne McMonagle

Any jockey that is operating at a strike-rate of 20 per cent or higher, especially on the Flat, is worth following and Dylan Browne McMonagle fits the bill. He already has 45 winners in Ireland this season and it won’t be long before he surpasses the 50 mark.

Attached to the Joseph O’Brien yard, the trainer has had plenty of winners recently and did particularly well at the Galway Festival last year.

McMonagle is getting better and better with every season and it’ll be a shock if he fails to get on the board at Galway.

Paul Townend

Willie Mullins’ stable jockey has been quiet recently, having only had a couple of rides over the last fortnight or so. You can guarantee that he’ll be busy at Galway, however, and Mullins is sure to provide him with plenty of winners.

Townend is operating at a strike-rate of 36 per cent in Ireland so far this season, with nine winners from his 25 rides, and further success will surely be on the cards at Galway.

Billy Lee

Known for his close title scraps with Colin Keane, Billy Lee is one of the most consistent Irish jockeys around and has been for many years. This means he gets given rides for plenty of top trainers and Paddy Twomey will surely give him some good opportunities across the week.

His strike-rate in the last fortnight has been very healthy and being so strong in a finish and a good judge of pace, winners are never far away when he’s involved.