Royal Canford

Willie McCreery

5.45 Monday Galmont.com & Galwaybayhotel.com Handicap

She ran well over a mile at last year’s meeting when taking second in a handicap won by Imposing Supreme and the slightly shorter trip of her assignment on the opening night of this year’s Festival should work in her favour.

She has solid form at a mile and even farther but her sole success to date came over six furlongs and she comes here off a highly encouraging display over seven furlongs at Leopardstown last month. On that occasion she was beaten by less than three lengths into third by Turbine and the form of that race looks increasingly strong with the third-placed Lord Rapscallion winning at Bellewstown next time and the fourth, Big Baby Bull, winning a premier handicap at the Curragh on his next outing.

If this capable Willie McCreery inmate can reproduce that sort of form on Monday, she will at the very least be hard to keep out of the frame.

Layfayette

Noel Meade

6.15 Tuesday caulfieldindustrial.com Handicap

The three-year-old handicap over an extended mile on Tuesday has attracted quite a decent entry that contains a number of likely winners and one of those is this Noel Meade inmate who has shaped better than the bare result of his two outings this season.

On his return to action, he had to settle for a midfield position in a useful Curragh handicap won by Champers Elysees and last time out at Cork he was beaten by three and a half lengths into third by Fame And Acclaim in a rated race.

However, he would not have been seen to best effect given how the Cork race unfolded, and the winner has also done his bit illustrate the value of that form by following up in cosy fashion in a Curragh handicap last weekend.

There could well be more to come from Lafayette this season and the fact that he has decent form on both good to firm and soft to heavy is a notable positive as his chances should be just as good whatever way the ground comes up next week.

Njord

Jessica Harrington

6.45 Tuesday Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap

This Jessica Harrington-trained four-year-old picked up a 10lb rise in the ratings for his impressive last-to-first charge in a 10-furlong handicap at the Curragh last month. However, he might still have the capacity to land a major handicap such as Tuesday’s feature and his proven ability to cope with the demands of the track at Galway is a notable positive.

On his only appearance at last year’s Festival he ran well under a big weight to finish fourth in a three-year-old mile handicap. He also reached the frame in a handicap at the September meeting before ending his 2019 campaign with a decisive triumph in a mile handicap at Galway’s last flat meeting of the year.

All this points to a horse who enjoys the test posed by Galway, whereas his last-time-out win at the Curragh suggested that he is firmly on the up. He is chosen ahead of his former stablemate Breaking Story whose comeback run in a hot listed race at Navan earns him close consideration even though he picked up a 9lb rise in the weights for that effort.

Spyglass Hill

Henry de Bromhead

6.45 Tote Galway Plate Handicap Chase (Grade A)

As a hurdler Spyglass Hill recorded just one success which came in a three-mile handicap hurdle at Limerick last October. There is only limited evidence to go on so far but it is as a chaser that this Henry de Bromhead-trained seven-year-old will really come into his own.

His comparative inexperience for Wednesday’s Plate – he has just four chase outings to his name – is a concern, but his form indicates that there is a significant pot to be won him over fences.

After starting out over the larger obstacles with two creditable efforts in hot beginners’ events, Spyglass Hill might well have won a three-mile Grade 3 at Naas in January but for falling at the second last.

He showed himself to be none the worse for that fall several weeks later at Gowran Park when he had no difficulty dropping back to two and a half miles to run out a six-length winner of a beginners’ chase in which the runner-up spot was filled by the subsequent Kim Muir scorer Milan Native.

That sort of form would suggest that this gelding is more than good enough to play a major role in the Plate, and horses coming out of their novice seasons have a particularly strong record in this race.

Turnpike Trip

Charles Byrnes

6.45 Guinness Galway Hurdle Handicap (Grade A)

The former Grade 1-winning novices Aramon and Felix Desjy, the big-race regular Petit Mouchoir and the Cheltenham scorer Aramax are all intriguing contenders for this year’s Hurdle.

Just as interesting though is Turnpike Trip, if the Charles Byrnes inmate is pointed in this direction.

On his return from a break, he struggled to make an impression behind Aramon in a well-contested Grade 3 at Tipperary last month. He then reverted to the flat and, although he had to settle for eighth behind Tandem in an amateur riders’ event at Leopardstown, he shaped quite well in a very steadily run affair.

After making a winning start over hurdles last July, Turnpike Trip went on to win three of his first four starts over timber and his penultimate jumping outing saw him finish fourth in a quality and competitive handicap hurdle at Ascot in December. However, the effort that earns him the vote is his fourth in the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle.

The first three home that day were the brilliant Envoi Allen, the Supreme Novices’ runner-up Abacadabras and the subsequent Champion Hurdle third Darver Star.

Meanwhile, those behind included the subsequent County Hurdle third Embittered and the Grade 3-winning Soviet Pimpernel. That calibre of form points to this gelding landing a major handicap at some point.