Ruby Walsh: Plan hatched, Tony Martin and Tudor City chase third Galway Hurdle
SAME AGAIN, PLEASE: TUDOR CITY and Liam McKenna won for owner John Breslin and wife Debbie and trainer Tony Martin. Pic: HEALY RACING
If the sun would finally consent to shine, today would be a great day to pick because Thursday is Ladies’ Day in Galway, and while that affects me in no way, good weather for this huge social occasion at Ballybrit makes for a far more enjoyable day out.
A boisterous crowd adds to any experience, and a vibrant Galway crowd can make a long day feel very short. Eight races, run over six hours, stretches a day to its limits for most racegoers, so sunshine is the minimum requirement.
It all begins at 2.10pm with a beginners’ chase and finishes with the bumper at 6.10pm, where I Will Be Baie will carry the hopes of many in attendance. They’ll be hoping he can ease the financial burden of the day's festivities, and I think he will, so don't forget. As for the first, Joyeux Machine is the percentage call, but Sir Argus showed a liking for extreme trips at Punchestown last April and shouldn't be dismissed entirely.
The second is a novice chase of an entirely higher standard, with all nine runners being previous chase winners. Hercule Du Seuil has already beaten Solness and Ballyadam but has done so at Killarney and Ballinrobe, which could not be more dissimilar to Galway.
However, it's still hard to see either turning the tables, but his two stablemates, Tax For Max and Heia, could give him plenty to think about. Paul Townend has chosen the former, but Heia's run in last year's Galway Hurdle should not be overlooked, and she is the each-way pick.
The Flat action commences in race three at 3.20pm, and Tuesday's solid run in the Colm Quinn mile makes No More Porter an easy choice when it's exactly what many will be looking for. The highest standard Flat race follows at 3.55pm when the Listed Corrib Fillies’ Stakes runners go to post.
Dandy Alys sets the standard here for English trainer Ralph Beckett. She is well travelled, having competed here before and in France, but may be vulnerable to Keep In Touch, who was second in last year's Montrose stakes at Newmarket for Dermot Weld and Chris Hayes.
The second half of the day begins with another switch in code, and this time to hurdle races. Officially, Horantzau D'Airy sets the standard with a mark of 130. What Path, Gortmillish and Pink In The Park are two from two this season, with five of the others last time-out winners.
It is one of those five who catches my eye, and Encanto Bruno has quite an impressive CV. A winner of two of three bumper starts and 13-length demolition of Dutch Schultz in a Bellewstown maiden hurdle reads well. His trainer John McConnell has been making giant strides in the last few years, and this horse could push him further in his quest to compete at the more significant meetings.
The feature eventually comes along as race six, at 5.05pm. Twelve months ago, the Galway Hurdle went the way of Tudor City, four years after he claimed his first, but the admirable part is that Tony Martin has him back here at the exact rating off which he won last year: 136.
Five poor runs have seen him shed the 7lb penalty he got for last year, and he comes here off the back of a win in the race he was third in 12 months previously. It will be some performance from horse and trainer if he bags a third Galway Hurdle, but the plan has been hatched, and Tony Martin is scooting around Galway like a man on a mission.
It won't be straightforward for him because Willie Mullins, Emmet Mullins, Gordon Elliott, J P McManus and Gavin Cromwell aim for this lucrative prize. Not to mention Eamon Sheehy with Captain Conby, Cian Collins with Mighty Tom, Sean Doyle with Lucky Max, and Padraig Butler with De Capo Glory.
Big and small yards have all lined up quality horses who will be led a merry dance by Prairie Dancer in search of a Galway jackpot. It will require speed and stamina to win, and Zarak The Brave has both but has to overcome the hoodoo four-year-olds carry in this contest. Brazil has both, and he will be many people's choice, but an outsider that I think could find himself in the shake-up is Icare Allen.
As the dust settles in the parade ring, the ground staff will change the track again as the hurdles will be removed for races seven and eight. I have already stated my thoughts on the bumper, but the third and final flat race comes along as race seven.
This is what an actual mixed card looks like, and from inside the weighing room it won't have suited everybody. Jump jockeys first, then two races off to watch their Flat counterparts before the Flat jockeys get 90-odd mins hanging about watching the jump jockeys again as the qualified riders join the room to prepare for the bumper.
It will create a congested and hot changing space, packed to the brim, and the Flat jockeys will be ready to get going when they are called at 5.30pm.
I hope Colin Keane is because if he is on fire, then he will be ready for Stoke The Fire.
