Killarney guaranteed to throw up at least a handful of horses who will go on to score at Galway
It is all part of a process that has been ongoing for many weeks, as we have carefully watched literally every contest run in Ireland.
What we have been attempting to do is to find likely candidates who might be worth supporting at Ballybrit, on the basis they will be capable of going much faster, with the handbrake off!
Killarney will be simply part of that procedure and, have no doubt about it, is guaranteed to throw up at least a handful of horses who will go on to score at Galway.
Last year the meeting produced four that subsequently emerged as Galway heroes, Kalellshan, Sure Reef, Voleuse De Coeurs and Bob Lingo, out of 52 races.
Two of those were especially interesting, Bob Lingo and Voleuse De Coeurs. Bob Lingo proceeded to land the biggie of the week, the Plate, while Voleuse De Couers made what can only be described as dramatic progress subsequently.
At Killarney, she finished fourth of four behind Beach Of Falesa, but that was a mere puck around for the real business to come.
The handicapper, in his wisdom, dropped her one pound for Galway and, you could argue, might have gone for a little more.
Anyway, onto Galway and Voleuse De Couers took on 19 rivals and treated them with contempt to score by eight lengths.
Then she was put away until the Irish Cesarewitch at the Curragh in October and, off a mark 15lbs higher compared to Galway, won the 27-runner affair by ten lengths.
Now if you saw her at Killarney, you’d have had to be some genius to forecast what was to come.
But that is the beauty of attempting to work out what has been happening on Irish racecourses of late, with Galway very much at the forefront of one’s thinking.
Two horses that had Galway written all over them cropped up at Bellewstown last Saturday evening in the Tony Martin pair, Ted Veale and Blackmail.
They finished first and second respectively in a 12 furlongs conditions race on the flat, beating Willie Mullins’ hot pot, Pique Sous, into third spot.
Ted Veale won in smooth style and you could certainly see him play a major part in the Galway Hurdle.
He has already shown a liking for this type of race, having won the County Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.
Blackmail ran on strongly from the back of the field and might as well have had flashing lights on his silks screaming future winner.
Oh, and one other thing when it comes to Galway, what about the current form of Dermot Weld’s horses?
I have a small number of his written down at the moment as real possibilities but, unlike most years, they are rather thin on the ground.
Weld is languishing in fourth place in the trainers’ championship right now, behind Aidan O’Brien, Jim Bolger and David Wachman.
His horses overall are simply not firing and, horror of horrors, he might just head west with a weak team.
But chances are he’ll find them somewhere and, while it may not be a vintage festival by his own massive standards, I’m still willing to wager he will provide us with our fair share of happiness.
regarding the paltry four-day suspension handed out to the riders at Leopardstown recently, after 50-1 no-hope Writers Block was given a total freebie in front, coming home 14 lengths to the good over five rivals in a mile and six contest for amateur riders.
The race was a complete farce, of course, and the suspensions in no way reflected the views of the betting public.
You cannot defend the indefensible and attempting to make a case for any of the five riders involved would be a futile exercise.
But here’s a thought. Realistically, Onzo Mor and Mireya were hard enough to fancy, but Cullentry Royal, Train Of Thought and Lady Of Glencoe all had a life.
But doesn’t most of the evidence tell us that they are well, unreliable to say the least.
Or are they live Galway candidates? I’ll go with the unreliable theory.
and it is all down, surely, to his association with the Jim Bolger yard.
Bolger has been giving him every chance and Cleary, to his credit, is repaying the faith placed in him.
At Roscommon on Monday night, he was entrusted with the ride on Bolger’s Bunairgead in a Listed event, because Kevin Manning couldn’t do the weight.
He was really good, giving the daughter of New Approach a delightful drive to beat El Salvador cosily in the end.
Cleary, however, was even better on Bolger’s Neophilia in a handicap at Leopardstown nine days ago.
She had a theoretical 11lbs in hand and was carrying heavy responsibilities as far as many of us were concerned.
Neophilia took a fierce hold for the first half a mile or so, but Cleary soon had the filly reasonably well anchored and then allowed her stride on before half way.
In the end it all worked out and was a seriously fine piece of driving.
