William Hill in €2m Galway Plate sponsorship
Sports Minister John O’Donoghue joined senior executives from both Galway Races and William Hill at a reception in the Westbury Hotel Dublin yesterday to announce a new five-year sponsorship of the Grade A William Hill Galway Plate which this year will take place on Wednesday, August 2.
The five year agreement covers the entire eight-race card on William Hill Galway Plate Day, including the Grade A €200,000 Galway Plate and ensures that prize money on the day will be approaching €2million over the five years.
Ray Rooney, Chairman of the Galway Race Committee said: “The Galway Committee has no doubt that William Hill will expand and enhance their reputation as blue chip participators in Irish racing by the manner in which they intend to contribute to the Galway Plate. The Committee and indeed all of racing are indebted to them for this major commitment.”
Meanwhile, Thomas Mullins is eyeing a Grade Three race at Gowran on January 20 ahead of a crack at the Ladbrokes World Hurdle for his front-running mare Asian Maze.
The Alo Duffin Memorial Galmoy Hurdle is being considered as a comeback race for the seven-year-old who has been off the track since landing a Grade One novice event at Punchestown in April.
That performance evoked memories of Dawn Run for connections with their charge having also won a similar race over three miles at Aintree earlier in the month.
“I am hoping to get a run into her at the end of January and I was thinking about the Cleeve at Cheltenham, but there is a race in Gowran which would probably be more realistic,” said Mullins yesterday.
“I would say the Alo Duffin Memorial Galmoy Hurdle is the likely target and we will take it from there.
“I would like her to be a champion hurdler but she won a three-mile Grade One in Aintree when she beat Brewster and I thought she could have gone round again.
“They put 25 lengths back to the third that day and I have no doubt she will get the trip at Cheltenham.”
Asian Maze is available at 12-1 for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle with Mullins pinpointing a leg injury as the reason for the mare’s absence.
“We gave her a break and then brought her back and we were going to run her in a Listed race in Punchestown in October but she got an injury to her hind leg,” Mullins continued.
“She got a haematoma and it was just painful for two days and we fixed her up and there was no pain or lameness afterwards.
“We still had to wait three or four weeks for it to settle down, though.
“It seems to have settled down now and we have got four or five weeks into her with some nice work in the last couple of weeks.
“It looks good at the moment so, fingers crossed, we can keep going all of the way.”
