Paul Townend on his Day 2 rides in Galway: 'It’s a track he seems to have a liking for' Paul Townend got his Galway Races meeting off to a flyer as Witches Familiar bolted up in the opening Galmont Hotel & The Galway Bay Hotel Novice Hurdle by 8.5 lengths. The Betway ambassador's hopes are high for a previous Galway winner on day two of the Festival. My day 2 rides in Galway It’s a good race to kick Day 2 off with this Listed Novice Hurdle (16:40), and I’m looking forward to seeing how Magico gets on in this higher grade. He made a winning start for us at Killarney back in May, but even on that performance, he’ll have to jump much better in a race of this quality because his jumping got a little bit sticky at times there. He was then really disappointing at Punchestown last time because even though he started well, his jumping just completely fell apart after a few flights, and he’s better than where he finished that day. But he’ll have to do things much more professionally to be in the mix in a race of this quality. Gomez Addams and Lizzie Twig look to set the standard, but you could give plenty of these a chance, so it looks a hot race, and Magico just won’t be able to get away with those errors in this, so hopefully he’s a bit more streetwise at his obstacles this time. I’m then looking forward to riding My Great Mate on his return to action in the Beginners Chase (17:10), and the majority of his best form has been here at Galway, so it’s a track he certainly seems to have a liking for. He was a good second to King Of Kingsfield in this race last year, and a reproduction of that effort would give him a chance, but he just couldn’t back that up here when finishing behind Rocky’s Diamond back in September, so there’s a possibility that his first run is the time to catch him. It’s an ultra-competitive race, and Bowensonfire looks to set the standard for Gordon Elliott, but Love Me Tender and Frankie John both have some good form over hurdles to their name, so it will be interesting to see how they take to chasing. I’m just hoping the experience my lad has might be enough to see him go close, but I must admit it’s a tough race to call.
