Rohan's Pride has Galway Plate incentive Rohan's Pride could earn himself a tilt at the Galway Plate with victory in the Tote Galway Plate Trial at Tipperary on Sunday. The eight-year-old has been in superb form since joining fledgling trainer Robert Honner, son of owner Winston Honner, landing the Bishopscourt Cup at the Punchestown Festival as well as a hunter chase at Downpatrick. He stepped into handicap company for the first time in the Galway Plate Trial at Limerick at the start of the month and his trainer admits it would be a dream come true to have a runner with a realistic chance at Ballybrit later this month. Honner said: "He ran well in Limerick the last day and we're hoping to run him in Tipperary this Sunday. I suppose that will tell us a bit more about where we're going. "I'd love to get him to Galway. If he goes and wins in Tipperary he might just get into the Plate with a light weight and if doesn't get in, there is another race on the Friday. "He's a horse I broke myself. My main job was working for our own Clongiffen Stud, where we stand his stallion Pushkin, and I was also riding out for James Wilkinson, who used to train him and is a neighbour of ours. "I only took out my licence earlier this year and didn't have a runner until April. This horse has won twice on the track in hunter chases and also won a point-to-point this year, so things are going pretty well. "To win the Bishopscourt Cup with him at the Punchestown Festival was a huge thing for us. It's a big race for farmers in Kildare and the local community, so it was kind of a dream come true for us. "To have another runner at a Festival would be absolutely brilliant and this horse could even go to Galway with a bit of a chance. "In a Galway Plate horses that jump and gallop, can handle decent ground and have a low weight tend to do well. We'd like to think we tick a few of the boxes. "I don't know if I really dare to dream about him winning at Galway, but I suppose you're better dreaming about Galway than dreaming in bed!" Honner is thrilled with how his training career has begun, but is keeping his feet on the ground. He said: "I can't believe how well things are going, to be honest. I think I'm just very, very lucky to have a few horses who are capable of winning races. We have eight horses in training at the moment and Rohan's Pride is our only winner on the track so far, but we have some other nice horses. "Mrs Mac Robin ran a promising race in a bumper at Sligo the other day and She's A Leader is a real nice mare who was second to Time For A Pint in a maiden hurdle at Fairyhouse last time. She might run in Tipperary on Sunday as well, so it could be a big day for us. "She's A Leader's dam died when giving birth so we had to bottle feed her and then find her a foster mare. "I ended up owning her for a while as I couldn't find a buyer and then a group of ladies that form the Flighty Flyers Syndicate bought her. She's been placed three times and hopefully we'll have a bit of fun with her."
