ALL roads lead to Galway next week and in truth there is no journey I look forward to more than heading ‘into the West’ on Monday morning.

Finding winners at Ballybrit is always a challenge, and it will be interesting to see how the ground presents after a prolonged dry period, though in Galway the weather always has the potential to turn.

Galway is the culmination of the summer for many, so it might make sense to concentrate on summer form, allowing that there is always a trainer or two that sparks into life over the week.

But looking at races run in Ireland since the start of June until the time of writing, there are a few yards to note both on the flat and over jumps.

On the level, Joseph O’Brien has been in rich form so far this summer with 38 winners from 171 runners for a strike-rate of 22.2% and Galway has long been a target meeting for him. Since the pandemic year, he has averaged 3.6 winners a year at the meeting.

Ger Lyons is next best with 17 winners from 74 runners (23% strike-rate) though tends not to be a major Galway participant.

Dermot Weld has been tipping along well with seven winners from 40 runners (17.5%) while Aidan O’Brien has been relatively quiet, 13 winners from 89 runners (14.6%).

Two smaller yards in good form this summer are Paul Flynn (8/60, 13.3%) and Paddy Magee (6/24, 25%).

Over jumps, the usual names of Gordon Elliott (16/104, 15.4%) and Henry de Bromhead (10/66, 15.2%) head the summer table of winners, while John Ryan is going great guns in third with nine winners from 51 runners for a strike-rate of 17.8%.

Ross O’Sullivan is just behind them with seven winners from 28 runners, a 25% strike-rate, and he has had plenty of recent success at Galway.

Willie Mullins has been relatively quiet with six winners from 62 runners.

Of the smaller operations, Andrew Kinirons (four winners from 11 runners) and Pat Foley (three winners from nine runners) are going well.

THE biggest takeaway from Irish Oaks weekend was an obvious one: the British sprinters remain a long way clear of the Irish ones. It is not that they have a few dominant sprinters at the top of the division, far from it in fact.

One must go back to Bradsell winning the Flying Five in September 2024 to find the last horse that was not winning a Group 1 sprint for three-year-olds and older in Britain or Ireland for the first time, the 13 winners of those sprints since all unique and original, none having won another before or since.

There may be no standout sprinters in Britain, but the scene there is competitive and the six British-trained sprinters to run at the Curragh last Sunday produced the winner and runner-up in the Scurry along with the first four in the Sapphire.

Advantage

Sondad and Dark Thirty had the advantage of high draws in the Scurry, but even so were the only ones travelling two furlongs down and pulled three lengths clear of the third.

For a major sprint, there were no hard luck stories though Go Athletico is has not had the best draw luck this year, caught out on box one here.

In the Sapphire, Cover Up reversed Royal Ascot form with Jakajaro and Rosy Affair, getting the break late here when he had met traffic in the King Charles III Stakes, the strong pace playing to his strengths.

Of the Irish runners, Brussels ran his best race of the season but will likely need the British horses to be absent to win a group race.

Prize money

Perhaps the only surprise in all this is that so few British sprinters have run in Ireland so far in 2026. Prior to last weekend, just nine British sprinters, including juveniles, had run in Ireland this year.

It may be a prize money comparison issue, with the Sapphire having a total prize fund of €130,000 while the King George Stakes at Goodwood, another Group 2 over five furlongs, is worth £300,000 in all.

Looking at these results, however, it is hard not to think that there won’t be more British runners in these races for the second half of the season, with races like the Phoenix Sprint, Ballyogan and Abergwaun all coming up in August.

THE Joseph O’Brien statement season continued over Irish Oaks weekend, the trainer saddling four winners across the two days, bringing his total winners this Irish flat season to 81 at the time of the writing, nearly double his nearest rival, his father Aidan with 43 winners.

His Johanna Walsh ran out a dominant four-length winner of the feature in a race that played out like many Irish classics, Ballydoyle controlling the pace and race-shape from the outset. Unusually, their challenge for the race was weak, and they had no filly to benefit from it, the best they could manage was Amelia Earhart in fifth.

Johanna Walsh was always in the box seat and travelled best into the straight before quickly settling the race, looking at home on fast ground.

She has come a long way since being beaten on soft in a Gowran maiden in April and gives her trainer a strong hand in this division, though Epsom winner Thundering On prefers slower ground and the pair seem unlikely to meet.

The runner-up Inis Mor looked a suspect stayer beforehand but got the trip well, meeting some traffic on her way through, though it was the third Sparan Nua who shaped second best.

She was held up and going well down the rail turning in but got no run until being switched entering the final furlong before running on well. Like the winner, she has improved run-to-run this season and there is more to come.

Similar comments apply to the fourth, Rebel Moon. She was another to come from off the pace, and shaped better than the result. She made a move wide on bend and came there going as well as the winner approaching the furlong pole only to fade.

It looked as if a well-run 12 furlongs stretched her, but it was just her third run, and there were signs of inexperience still, her rider reporting she ducked right late.

SOME of the Irish Oaks runners could meet another filly, Moody, who won earlier on the Curragh Saturday card in the near term. She was an impressive winner of the Group 3 Meadow Court Stakes.

This race looked all about her stablemate One Look beforehand, but she underperformed, the ground on the fast side and the race coming up quickly after a tough contest in the Pretty Polly.

Moody had the run of the race from the front, but was still an easy winner, showing versatility with ground and trip while also coming off a break.

Another big name to underperform after a recent run was Al Riffa in the Curragh Cup on Sunday, Ruby Walsh on RTV commented beforehand that he had run-up light, though he also met some trouble down the inner and would have preferred a stronger pace.

The Group 2 Minstrel Stakes gave solidity to the form of the three-year-old milers just as they are about to compete against their elders.

Power Blue had come up short against Bow Echo and Gstaad but was well-backed down in class and ran out a good winner.