Galway Festival Day One – Monday 25th July

Day One Preview – 2022 Galway Festival – Andrew Blair White

This has been a week I have looked forward to for quite a while at this stage, and I am absolutely delighted to be previewing the racing from Galway all week for WhichBookie. It should be a great week of action, full of potential surprises and hopefully some very good horses, and some winners. We had a decent day at Gowran on Saturday to whet the appetite, and I am hoping that we can start the week off strong today on Monday. 

The 5.40 race at Galway is the first race of interest for me and this 2m handicap hurdle is certainly not one of the best races on the card from a talent point of view, but it has some potentially well handicapped horses in there. I’m not pulling up any trees for suggesting this horse, but I do think market leader, Golf Marin, must have a huge chance in this race, with all conditions in his favor. He has been a shade unlucky in his last two starts, especially at Punchestown over this trip, and it feels like his win over hurdles is coming sooner rather than later. For connections that are always capable of getting one ready for meetings such as this, he should be afforded the utmost respect. 10/3 is not a price everyone will be keen on in this type of race, but it will suit me. 

The 6.40 is the prestigious Amatuer Riders Handicap over just over 2 miles and this race has been hotly contested for years, and features a brilliant record for Willie Mullins. He saddles plenty in this race, but interestingly Patrick Mullins is yet to win the race, so it would be a small turn off for me on the fav, who otherwise must have a good chance. I quite like two of Willie’s outsiders on paper, starting off with the second from the race last year, Foveros. Although he was very quiet on his return last month at the Curragh, one would have thought a return crack at this race had been in the pipeline for a while, and I would be surprised to see him not run well with Derek O’Connor on top of him. The owner has a very good record in this race, and he has already shown that he is suited to conditions. A price of 25/1 with 5 places available on Bet365, seems a fair price. 

My other selection for the race is not only a stable mate, but an owner mate, in the admirable and in-form Whiskey Sour – with Aubrey McMahon taking the ride, who has a superb record in this race. He takes a vital seven pounds off the back of Whiskey Sour here, which is good given the physique of the horse, and this winner of the race in 2017 has staged a revival over hurdles in recent starts, winning two of his last three. That should give him confidence returning to the level, and these big field handicaps have always suited him well on the flat or over jumps. I don’t think he is unfeasibly handicapped and if managing to match the form he arrives here in, he could outrun his odds. At a price of 25/1 with Bet365, he should be backed each way also.