HISTORY repeated itself in the opening race of the 2025 Galway Festival as Davy Crockett - son of decorated debut Ballybrit bumper winner Annie Power - took out the Galway Bay Hotel & The Galmont Hotel Novice Hurdle, just as his Grade 1-winning half-brother Mystical Power had done for the same connections two years earlier.

This didn’t look the deepest contest on paper beforehand, as the winner’s SP of 1/2 suggested, and he overcame an untimely error at the second last under Mark Walsh to finish two and a half lengths clear of a game Mick Collins.

The Coolmore and Martinstown home-bred carries the colours of J.P. McManus and Mrs John Magnier, and, with those connections, he was a fitting winner of the first race run in Ireland since the passing of Edward O’Grady.

Willie Mullins indicated something like the Grade 2 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle at the Fairyhouse Winter Festival on November 30th could be next for the unbeaten Punchestown bumper winner.

“I was very happy with how efficient his jumping was except for the mistake at the second last,” said Mullins.

“For a horse having his first run over hurdles, and just the second run of his career, I was very pleased with him. I think we’ll just keep going down the novice hurdle route now. Hopefully, he might make into a Royal Bond horse. Listowel might be possible before then, we’ll see. He’s not a huge horse, he’s 16hh, and more a flat-hurdles type than a chaser.”

Harrington riding high

Jessica Harrington has polished plenty of diamonds from breeder Gerry McGrath’s nursery, and the family of Champion Hurdle star Jezki produced another winner for the big stage when Jerrari proved too strong for his rivals in the Iggy Daly Easyfix Handicap Hurdle.

Donagh Meyler has struck up a good relationship with the recent Roscommon winner and came home four lengths clear of Prove Yourself to delight the Mount Temple Three Syndicate at odds of 10/1.

Assistant trainer Kate Harrington said: “He’s always promised a lot, but was probably quite disappointing over the winter months. He got his head in front at Roscommon the last day. I wasn’t sure how much he’d improved since, but we always felt that once he did get his head in front he could keep progressing. He was very good today. He’s from a great McGrath family, his dam is a half-sister to Jezki and a full sister to Jett.”

AIDAN O’Brien or Dermot Weld have won the seven-furlong Eventus Irish EBF Maiden in 15 of the last 23 years, and that theme continued again when the Ballydoyle handler’s 1/5 favourite Constitution River made no mistake in a ready win under Wayne Lordan.

The Coolmore partners’ Wootton Bassett colt had been touched off by a short-head on his only start in a Newmarket July Festival maiden won by Godolphin’s €1.9 million breeze-up recruit Distant Storm, and never looked in danger on his way to a three-and-three-quarter-length success here.

“He was impressive,” said Chris Armstrong, representing the stable.

“He had a very good run in a nice maiden at Newmarket - Ryan [Moore] loved him there. With normal improvement, coming here, you’d think he’d put up a good display. He was very green around here and Wayne said he was looking at the camera on his inside, but he went to the line with plenty still left in him.

“He’s a colt with a touch of class and is one to look forward to going into the second half of the season. I suppose he now puts himself into the Futurity mix with the rest of them. The lads will divide them up and see where they go.”

Kilmeaden’s breakthrough

Donnacha O’Brien has his string in rude health at present and made it eight winners from 25 runners in the space of three weeks (32% strike rate, also three seconds in that period) when Kilmeaden toughed it out in the extended-mile-and-a-half Grá Chocolates Handicap for three-year-olds.

With Paddy Harnett claiming another 5lb off the Galileo colt’s rating of 82, it looked like he could be well handicapped on the basis of his second to Queen’s Vase winner Carmers earlier this season. However, the 11/2 winner had been beaten twice since and needed to be tough to shrug off a persistent effort from the well-backed 2/1 favourite Starford by a neck.

“He has loads of ability, but is just a bit gawky - Paddy gave him a great ride,” O’Brien said of the winner, who is owned by a Wachman-Shanahan-Magnier-Tabor family partnership.

“I think Galway probably suited him in that he was turning, and it kept him interested. He stays well and found plenty for pressure. Hopefully it’s onwards and upwards. He’s very laidback and I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t stay further.”

DAVE Loughnane has been there, done that and worn the t-shirt when it comes to saddling winners in group company and at Royal Ascot. However, he insisted that nothing has ever matched the thrill he got from seeing It’sneverjustone provide him with a first Galway Festival victory in the Clayton Hotel Galway Handicap for owners Ian O’Connor and The Fox And Hounds.

A native of the county who developed a love for the sport as a child coming to this very fixture, he was clearly emotional in the winner’s enclosure after Declan McDonogh overcame being drawn in stall 16 to win by a length and three-quarters on the 12/1 winner.

“This winner is right at the top of my career,” said Shropshire-based Loughnane.

“This place was my Everest for a long time. It’ll take a while to come down from this cloud. It’s magic. The day he won at Ffos Las [last time out, four weeks ago], I rang the guys and told them we had to go to Galway with him. I had three others in the mix to travel and felt he’d fit in well. Fair play to them - they have a local pub up the road from me - and a long-term supporter of mine, Ian O’Connor.

“A bunch of them landed in Knock this morning at 9am, got to Oranmore for 10am, had their first pint by 11.30am and have been rattling on since. We were all worried about the draw, but after I got the saddle of Deccie, he told me to forget the draw, that if he’s good enough, that’ll be enough. It went so smoothly. Once he swept through, I thought ‘Jesus, this can’t be happening’.”

Exciting Addams

The Andy Slattery team entered Ballybrit in top form and made it six winners in the space of three weeks when promising newcomer Gomez Addams (SP 11/2) bolted up in the concluding Monami Construction Bumper under Adam Ryan. Pat Morrissey’s home-bred was bought back by connections for just €6,000 as a store last summer, but is a half-brother to Paul Nicholls’ useful handicap chaser Twinjets and quickened up smartly to beat Maskarvel by six and a half lengths.

“We expected it, to be honest,” said Slattery. “He’s been working with Gameball, who won at Ballinrobe the other day. We like this lad. I have some nice bumper horses.

“We thought the ground might be a bit quick, he might be better on softer when he’s a big horse, but he has an engine. I only have this horse in training about six weeks.

“Up until then, Pat was bringing him to my gallops and Adam was riding him out. He’s done nothing but improve and impress in every gallop.”