King crowns glory week by completing first Galway double since 1984
DOUBLING UP: Daniel King celebrates winning The Guinness Galway Hurdle Handicap (Grade 3) with Putapoundinthejar Pic: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
A little bit of history was made at Ballybrit on Thursday as Daniel King became the first jockey to win the Galway Plate and the Galway Hurdle in the same year since Joe Byrne completed the double courtesy of Master Player and Tara Lee back in 1984.
Successful with 20-1 outsider King Alexander for Willie Mullins in the Plate on Wednesday, the 21-year-old from Cork partnered 10-1 shot Putapoundinthejar to victory in the Hurdle to give trainer Tony Martin a remarkable fifth success in the richest hurdle race on the Irish racing calendar.
“It's amazing, the same as yesterday, I’m lost for words again to be honest,” King said. “It's magical stuff, the stuff of dreams. This horse can be quite buzzy and keen, the main thing was to switch him off and get him into a rhythm. We went a nice gallop and he settled really well, jumped class the whole way around, and didn't miss a beat. Wherever I wanted to go, I had the horse to take me.”
Paying tribute to Martin, King added: “I find Tony easy to ride for. He kind of leaves it to me, he rode himself, he knows how races pan out, you can go out there with instructions but before you jump off they can be gone out the window. I’m delighted it all worked out, since I’ve been going into Tony, he's been so good to me, giving me savage opportunities so I'm very lucky.”
Martin, whose previous Galway Hurdle wins came courtesy of Thomas Edison, Quick Jack and dual winner Tudor City, said: “This has been a very lucky race for me and this is magic. Ray Grehan is a local owner and is a great supporter of mine. It couldn't have worked out any better.
“From the time this horse came to me as a four-year-old, he just needed every year to mature and now he is coming to himself. I didn't get to see all the race but everywhere I did see, he was travelling so well.” Of the jockey, Martin said: “He was where you wanted him to be at all stages and for a lad of his age, he is some talent. I haven't seen a lot with his talent in a lot of years.”
Those sentiments were shared by winning owner Grehan, who said: "I'm delighted for Daniel, he is the man, both today and yesterday. He is the real deal but so is Tony Martin.
Explaining how the horse was named, Grehan added: “I bred the horse myself and he was named by a few of the lads in the bar who one night decided to put a pound in the jar for something, so I named him that.”
