Guinness Galway Hurdle (Grade A)

JUST as they did here with Sharjah two years ago, Willie Mullins and his son Patrick combined to land this iconic prize with a high-class top-weight as Aramon produced a performance worthy of a Grade 1-class hurdler.

When Sharjah bagged this prize two years ago he did so off a mark of 146, but an appreciably stiffer task confronted Aramon who was looking to defy a rating of 155. Such a test would be daunting one for any horse, but Aramon looked better than ever when landing a Tipperary Grade 3 on his return to action in late June and confirmed that impression here with a performance that was both classy and courageous.

The race itself was a straightforward one for the Aramon Syndicate-owned 7/1 chance who took up a position in the front rank and tracked the British runner Hunters Call at all stages. There was some early drama as Felix Desjy, the favourite, whom many expected to make the running, crashed out at the second hurdle when lying in midfield in an incident which saw him bring down two other runners.

Otherwise there wasn’t much drama and it was smooth sailing for those up front as Denis O’Regan dictated a seemingly steady tempo and Hunters Call remained in front coming away from the second last. Poised in his slipstream was the winner, while that one’s stablemate Buildmeupbuttercup, Hearts Are Trumps and the admirable Petit Mouchoir were all threatening.

Aramon took over coming away from the last and toughed it out splendidly on the run to the line to fend off both Hearts Are Trumps and Petit Mouchoir, with Hunters Call back in fourth.

“It was an incredible performance and on top of that he was lugging me around!” exclaimed a delighted winning rider. “With his weight I thought that he might be placed, and the ground easing yesterday was a worry, but when I looked at the time of the first race I felt the ground wasn’t too slow and I decided to be positive on him.

“I settled back when Hunters Call went on and as long as Denis (O’Regan) was in front I was saying to myself the fractions were right for those up front. Ruby did tell me that he is a horse with a great turn of foot so I was keen to hang on to him as long as possible. I would say that the race turned into a bit of a sprint and that probably negated the fact that he was carrying so much weight.

“This is an iconic race and I never dreamt that I could win it once let alone twice but when you are riding for my father anything is possible. I got a good bollocking from him last night for missing the break in the Galway Plate so I made sure that wasn’t going to happen.

“Last season this horse had a bit of an off season but that happened with Sharjah too. This horse seems to have gotten his confidence back lately and the rating he is going to have after this would put him in the Champion Hurdle picture.

“Maybe he’s a horse that could travel at some stage for a race like the one at Far Hills in America.”

This was a fourth Galway Hurdle victory for Willie Mullins whose first success came with Mystical City all the way back in 1996. Meanwhile, the well-backed Wonder Laish could never get involved after being badly hampered at the second flight.