THE Galway Plate dates back to 1869 when it was won by Absentee owned and trained by Richard Bell and its place in history and the minds of Irish people is secured forever. The 100th anniversary of the Galway Hurdle was in 2013, but it is ironic that the first winner Red Damsel was originally owned by Mr R. Bell and he also bred and rode the horse before she was sold to Baron De Tuyell. She hadn’t won a race before the Galway Hurdle and her best run had been a second in Kilbeggan. She won by a short-head for trainer Maxwell Arnott (who was 12 times leading trainer at the meeting).

In the early days the great Joe Canty rode four winners - Happy Moments (1917), King Michael (1921), Holy Fooks (1924), and Shrew King (1929) - for four different trainers. Frank Barbour, a Belfast linen magnate was a major figure in National Hunt Racing in the 1920s and associated with Gold Cup winners Easter Hero and Koko. He owned Elgon who won the hurdle race in 1916, his niece Miss M.D. Barbour owned the winner Alroi in 1925, and his daughter Miss E.L. Barbour owned 1926 winner Blancona (she was said to be the youngest owner in the world).The latter also won the Galway Plate in 1925.

J.A. `Gus’ Mangan from Hazelhatch, Dublin is still the only person to breed, own, train and ride a winner of the Galway Hurdle and Plate, when he succeeded with Pucka Ranee in the Hurdle in 1930 and Pucka Shikari in the Plate in 1931. His horse Swindon Glory also won the Galway Plate in 1944 and 1945.

BROWN JACK

The first horse to win two Galway Hurdles was Major H. Beamish’s Knuckleduster in 1932/33 and on one occasion he beat the famous Offaly-bred Ascot specialist and Champion Hurdler Brown Jack in a race in England.

Edward T.O’Meara as an owner won the race three times in four years between 1934-1937 with Red Hillman, Bachelor’s Lane and Gorgia, at prices from 8/1 to 10/1. He also trained the latter two horses. In 1938 English jockey Don Butcher rode Sepollete for Edward Delaney to win the Hurdle, and he won the Plate with Bob Fetherstonhaugh’s Symaethus at 20/1.

The most unusual double winner was when Point D’Atout, owned by J.V. Rank, won it in 1942 but didn’t repeat the success until 1947, when he was trained for the second time by the original trainer Barney Nugent. The latter also won the race two years in succession with King Of The Jungle in 1945 and 1946. He was beaten by Fair Pearl in 1946 but the latter was disqualified on a technicality. Nugent got three in a row when Point D’Atout won in 1947.

Colonel Denis Daly was the first owner to win both the Galway Plate and Hurdle the same year, which he achieved with Ring Of Gold and Red Shaft in 1940. In 1945, Danny Morgan rode Harry Ussher’s Grecian Victory to win the Plate and won the Hurdle with King Of The Jungle, who spoiled a gamble on Desdichado ridden by Aubrey Brabazon. That was Ussher’s ninth Galway Plate win, a record he shared with Paddy Sleator.

Vincent O’Brien only won the Galway Plate once with Alberoni and his sole success in the Galway Hurdle was with Wye Fly, who carried 12st 6lb to win in 1951 ridden by Martin Maloney.

DEAD-HEAT

Paddy Sleator won the Galway Plate nine times between 1948 and 1975 and his most unique winner was Knight Errant, who won the Galway Hurdle in 1958 after winning the Plate in 1957.

The only recorded dead-heat in the race was in 1961 when Cygne Noir (Pat Taaffe), bred by the Aly Khan, dead-heated with Newgrove (J. Lehehan). In 1965 there was an unusual winner when Charlie Weld won with Ticonderoga, as this horse was trained by John Oxx in 1962 and ran in the first ever Irish Sweeps Derby, where Oxx’s other horse Arctic Storm finished second to Tambourine II. He was gelded and went to Charlie Weld and in 1964 he won the Amateur Handicap ridden by the 15-year-old Dermot Weld. He went on to win the Hurdle in 1965 and tragically was killed later that year.

In 1975 the Galway Hurdle was divided for the only time due to a huge entry. In the first division Dermot Weld’s Spanner, who had won the Amateur Handicap three times in four years, recorded Weld’s first success in the Hurdle at 10/1. On the previous Monday he had defeated Clem Magnier’s Double Default in the Amateur Handicap and the latter was heavily backed to win the second division of the Hurdle, down to 6/4 favourite, and won in a photo finish.

Over the years small local trainers have had some success in the Galway Hurdle such as Mark Scully who won with Lesabelle at 25/1. In 1992 local trainer Patrick G. Kelly spiked all the big guns when winning with Natalies Fancy at 25/1 and again 1995 with No Tag (Jason Titley), who defeated Richard Dunwoody on Saibot by a short-head.

MEADE’S SPECIALIST

In the early 1980s Noel Meade introduced course specialist Pinch Hitter to punters in the Galway Hurdle in 1982. The horse had already won two McDonagh Handicaps (the second a few days before) and with Jonjo O’Neill on board he won at 7/2 favourite and the same combination repeated the feat in 1983.

O’Neill also teamed up with Edward O’Grady in 1979 to do the double with Hindhope 6/1 in the Plate and Hard Tarquin in the Hurdle. It was the first time a trainer did the double since 1957.

The first English winner was Rushmoor in 1986, a horse bred by Queen Elizabeth, ridden by Peter Scudamore, and trained by Ray Peacock. In 1997, Aidan O’Brien had his only Hurdle winner when Toast The Spreece, who had won the Irish Lincoln, won at 12/1 ridden by Tony McCoy.

Gambles are always a part of the attraction of Galway. They have involved trainers like Barney Nugent, Paddy Sleator, Clem Magnier, Dermot Weld, Noel Meade and many other well know trainers.

Sometimes they involved smaller stables like owner/trainer Martin Dunne, who pulled off the Amateur Handicap and Galway Hurdle double with Try A Brandy in 1988 and he was well backed in both races.

In 1990, Willie Fennin’s horse Athy Spirit was backed off the board to win the Amateur Handicap on Monday and the Galway Hurdle, where he ended up 9/4 favourite and both times he destroyed the opposition. Other successful gambles in recent times were Paul Nolan’s Cloone River 7/2 favourite in 2004 and Pat Hughes horse Farmer Brown 9/2 favourite in 2007.

AMAZING ANSAR

Perhaps the most remarkable of all Dermot Weld’s winners at Galway was Ansar. He won twice on the course in 2000, and repeated the feat in 2001, when he won the Galway Hurdle and then won a novice chase in 2003. He won the Galway Plate in 2004 and 2005 and then in 2006 when attempting to become the first horse since Tipperary Boy to win three in a row he was foiled by J. P. McManus’s Far From Trouble. Ansar won seven out of nine races at Galway in a brilliant career.

Paul Nolan trained three winners of the Hurdle race between 2002-2006 with Say Again (16/1), Cloone River (7/2 favourite), and Cuan Na Grai (7/1). Michael Winters won with Rebel Fitz in 2012 and Missunited in 2013 (the latter went on to run a great race in the Ascot Gold Cup).

In 2014 J.P. McManus recorded his first ever win in the Galway Hurdle when the heavily backed favourite Thomas Edison won at 7/2 favourite ridden by Tony McCoy and trained by Tony Martin. He ran on to beat the consistent Bayan and The Game Changer by three lengths. It was Tony McCoy’s last ride in the race and it added to his previous win on Aidan O’Brien’s Toast The Spreece.

Stan McCormack’s book Racing Through The Midlands - Westmeath & Offaly will be published next month