The Guinness is on Sabadilla
Globetrotting gelding Sabadilla landed a surprise win in the €170,000 Guinness Handicap Hurdle at the Galway Festival this afternoon.
In a 24-runner race that generated a national record for Tote turnover of €392,095, 14-1 shot Sabadilla got up close home to land the winner’s prize in the hands of his trainer Pat Verling.
Sabadilla has taken a lengthy route to his current home after starting out life with John Gosden, landing the 1997 November Handicap at Doncaster, before switching to the Godolphin yard of Saeed bin Suroor.
The son of Sadler’s Wells could manage only one win in Dubai though and he returned to Martin Bosley’s yard in England last year.
Eventually bought on behalf of Cork businessman Billy Coleman for little more than €14,000, Sabadilla looked in trouble after the final flight when trapped on the inner as the spoils looked like going instead to Timmy Murphy on Cloone River (8-1).
But Verling changed his hands on the nine-year-old, got a run through behind the leader and flashed to the front to prevail by three-quarters of a length.
“I got a lovely run through and although it always gets a bit tight in the home straight here, this fellow loves passing horses. I am glad the ground rode as well as it did after the rain overnight,” said Verling.
“I hope this win will help me continue race-riding for a couple more years. I have a dozen horses in training and the plan is to send Sabadilla chasing later this year.”
Quadco was a first-hurdle casualty, doing no favours to the heavily-backed favourite Puck Out or indeed the eventual third Lafayette whose jockey Shay Barry reported that he had to jump the fallen Quadco on landing.
Another Cork rider to figure among the big-race winners was Norman Williamson who doubled up in successive races aboard Golden Row (7-1) and Patrizio (3-1) to maintain his excellent strike rate at the meeting over the years.
Golden Row bounced back to form for the Edward O’Grady stable as Williamson rode a patient race in the Carlsberg Lager Novice Chase, only sending his mount to the front inside the final furlong to defeat Say Again who had won the Guinness Hurdle on the corresponding day last year.
Patrizio made it four wins in a row over timber when defying top weight for Williamson and Kilkenny trainer Eoin Griffin in the St James’s Gate Novice Hurdle.
Williamson sent Patrizio clear for a runaway success on the climb to the post but favourite Lowlander was a big disappointment for trainer Dermot Weld and could finish only seventh.
