Jackpot payout in store for lucky Galway punters Tote Ireland sponsors the entire card at Galway on Wednesday including the iconic Tote Galway Plate with a prize pool of €270,000 which takes place at 6.40pm this evening. Customers of Tote.ie can avail of a Free Jackpot bet to try and win or share in this evening’s bumper pool. The Tote Jackpot takes place on races 3-6 at each Irish race meeting and in order to win the multi-leg bet players must predict the winners of all 4 Jackpot races. This evening’s Jackpot legs are: 6.10pm Free Jackpot All Customers at Tote.ie Irish EBF Mares Handicap Hurdle 6.40pm Tote Galway Plate Handicap Chase 7.15pm Tote Guarantee on all Irish & UK Races (QR) Maiden 7.50pm Play The Tote Exacta On Every Race Handicap This evening’s Jackpot looks fiendishly difficult with 20 runners, 22 runners, 18 runners and 12 runners across the four legs but our selection guide to the Jackpot might help point you in the right direction if you fancy chancing your luck by placing a Tote bet. 6.10pm This Mares Handicap Hurdle can be narrowed down to a couple of likely contenders. The local Mee family target the Galway Races with their horses each year and have a strong contender here with Purple Mountain. The Willie Mullins-trained mare won her Maiden Hurdle here last year and is bound to have been primed for a repeat victory at the festival. Gordon Elliott saddles three horses in this race and each of them look to have their chances but it seems wise to side with stable jockey Jack Kennedy who has chosen to partner Punchestown Maiden Hurdle winner Return To Base. Kennedy has ridden all three of Elliott’s runners before so his choice carries extra weight in this contest. 6.40pm The Galway Plate is always a very difficult puzzle to solve and this year’s renewal is no different. Cases can be made for most of the 22 runners but three that should all be in the mix come the business end of the race are recent Kilbeggan Midlands Grand National scorer Hurricane Georgie, one of the class horses in the field Gabynako and last year’s fourth place finisher The Shunter. 7.15pm This 1m4f Maiden for amateur riders has been won by Mee family-owned horses in three of the last five years and they have a particularly strong hand again this year with Hallowed Star and Merlin Giant. Hallowed Star won over hurdles at Galway last year while Merlin Giant was narrowly beaten in a bumper at the track. Top amateur Patrick Mullins, fresh from his Monday evening success aboard Echoes In Rain, partners the Shark Hanlon-trained Hallowed Star while Emmet Mullins has opted to claim off Merlin Giant. There shouldn’t be much between the pair of them. 7.50pm Much of the focus on this final leg of the jackpot will centre around Monday’s handicap winner Darierin presuming he lines up again. He must carry a 7lbs penalty for that success and a combination of the extra weight and the extra distance of this race leaves him looking vulnerable. Joseph O’Brien found the key to Sir Antonino with a combination of first time blinkers and forcing tactics working to get him off the mark at Limerick last time but he may struggle to lead from stall 11 this time and for that reason alone is left out of the jackpot combination. Two horses that are closely matched on recent form at Roscommon could be the way to go as they both now drop back in trip. Mister Wilson, a winner over 7F here last October and Joe Masseria finished second and fourth respectively in a Roscommon handicap over 10F at the end of June and it will be no surprise to see both contend now coming back to an extended 8F. Suggested Tote Jackpot Combination Leg 1 - numbers 4 and 9 Leg 2 - number 2, 6 and 17 Leg 3 - numbers 4 and 5 Leg 4 number 8 and 9 2 X 3 X 2 X 2 = 24 bets 18+ gamble responsibly Dunlewey.org
