Galway hero One Cool Poet aimed at Irish Champions Weekend One Cool Poet is heading for Irish Champions Weekend after his heroic exploits at the Galway Festival. Matthew Smith’s seven-year-old had only won one of his previous 29 races, but triumphed three times in six days last week. Having begun with a victory over an extended mile on Tuesday, he stepped up to a mile and a half on Thursday to win with a 6lb penalty and defied an extra 12lb on Saturday. His first win came off a lowly mark of 66, but his new rating of 91 means he should get a run in a premier handicap at either Leopardstown or the Curragh. “This time last week we didn’t expect it to happen, it was brilliant and Saturday’s win was by far his easiest,” said Smith. “I don’t think he’s a Galway specialist. His only other win was at Limerick and he’s gone close at plenty of other places. “I put it down to him getting his head in front on Tuesday, that filled him with confidence. But every time he’s run at Galway, he’s run well. “We’ll look at one of the good handicaps on Champions Weekend, either a mile and a half or a mile-two. He’s up to 91 now. “Why not go there? He’s earned a crack and the good thing is he can go over hurdles and fences as well. “He’s only run twice over fences, so that’s something we can look at later in the year.”
