GORDON Elliott might have been self-critical of his campaigning of Lizzie Twigg, but he branded the rapid improver as his dark horse for the week at his Galway Races press morning recently and she duly became a much more valuable type when winning the Listed Colm Quinn BMW Novice Hurdle.
With 2/1 favourite Gomez Addams dropping away tamely from the front end to a well-held fourth, it was smooth sailing for Jack Kennedy on the 5/2 chance, who carries her trainer’s colours. The Poet’s Word five-year-old ultimately ran out a stylish winner by two and a half lengths from Joseph O’Brien’s Fastnet Crystal.
Speaking after extending an unbeaten sequence over hurdles to three, Elliott said: “She’s a nice mare. To be fair, she should be unbeaten - I got greedy at the end of last season and ran her back quickly in a listed bumper at Fairyhouse not long after she’d won on her debut. She just ran a little bit flat.
“She’s been showing us all the right things at home and I don’t think she wants real winter ground - she’s a real spring filly for the festivals. I’ve tried to sell her after every run but couldn’t. She’s still for sale. I nearly had her sold to America recently but I’m glad I didn’t now because I think she could be a right filly for that Grade 3 [Feathard Lady Mares Novice Hurdle] at Down Royal [on October 30th].”
Connolly celebrations
One of the most emotional winners of the week came in the seven-furlong caulfieldindustrial.com Handicap when the locally-owned-and-bred Eddie G provided a poignant day for the Connolly family behind the Taceec Syndicate.
Ado McGuinness finished second in the feature event but managed to saddle the 1-2-4 here, as Dylan Browne McMonagle made the most of an opportune call up for the 7/2 favourite - scoring pretty readily by three quarters of a length.
“Adam [Caffrey] picked Goal Exceeded [fourth] and when Kevin O’Ryan told me Dylan Browne McMonagle was available, Padraic [Connolly, owner] told me that it was like bringing on Lionel Messi as a sub!” said McGuinness.
“Today is special as Padraic’s wife [Delia] passed away only a few weeks ago, so this is obviously very emotional to him. He isn’t here today, but he has plenty of family representing him. I’m delighted for them all. They’re all Galway people with great history in Galway hurling. Aidan [Connolly], his son, is home from Dubai and I’m sure this will mean an awful lot to them.
“Eddie G was second here two years ago and got hurt last year. They gave him patience and it’s lovely that it’s worked out. All our horses ran very well.”
Aga Khan 1-2
Over the same course and distance 30 minutes later, there was a deserved breakthrough at the sixth attempt for Johnny Murtagh’s Sindagan, who came home strongly under Ben Coen to lead home a 1-2 for the Aga Khan Studs in the Caulfield Industrial Irish EBF Maiden.
A rating of 96 arguably is on the harsh side for the useful Mehmas gelding, who beat the 77-rated Almeiyda (Dermot Weld) by a length here. Nonetheless, it was a pleasing performance following his good second to the highly-regarded Bamako Beach last time.
“He deserved to win that, even on his rating alone,” said Murtagh.
“He’s been very consistent all year and ran into a very good horse last day - he finished seven lengths clear of the third. There’s a seven-furlong listed race at Cork [the Platinum Stakes on August 14th] and he deserves to go there with the rating he has, to see how he fits in.
“The Irish handicap system is hard on you with a horse like him. Now, at the start of the year I did think he would get to that mark, but getting to that from running second is harsh. It’s all about today and it’s great to get a winning bracket. He’s pretty versatile ground-wise, he didn’t mind it quick at Fairyhouse the time before.”
THE future looks bright for Denis Hogan’s Frankie John after making a winning debut over fences in the two-mile-two-furlong Latin Quarter Beginners Chase, with the trainer now eager to plot a major handicap chase with his highly-tried six-year-old.
Daniel King was largely positive on the 15/8 second favourite, who is owned by John Mahon and the trainer’s mother Mary, and his proven stamina over further was a useful asset in the closing stages here. He had three lengths to spare over chasing debutant Bowensonfire, with 6/4 favourite Love Me Tender unable to really land a telling blow from off the pace.
Hogan said: “It’s his first chase and he looks exciting. It’s lovely to get one here. We won’t get carried away - it’s a beginners’ chase in the middle of the summer - but hopefully we have a good winter ahead with him.
“I won a maiden hurdle on him at Leopardstown but I wasn’t taking a chance over the bigger ones today! This horse doesn’t want very heavy winter ground, so I was happy to come here before a novice chase in the autumn. If it got really heavy mid-winter, we’ll pack him up for the spring.
“We were very unlucky last season. I fancied him for the Martin Pipe at Cheltenham but he scoped bad the Tuesday before and couldn’t go. We ended up running him in the Grade 1 at Aintree, finished fourth and got a 10lb hike. We probably did leave a big handicap behind. Hopefully we can make amends over fences.
“Dan is one of the best riders in the weighing room and I’m lucky to have got hold of him. I thought one of the big yards would have snapped him up by now - I think he’ll end up there.”
A Ballybrit first
The only other chase on the card went the way of one of the best-bought winners of the week, as Andrew McNamara trained his first Galway winner with €7,000 claimer recruit Tell Us This in the Colm Quinn BMW Handicap Chase.
The seven-year-old, owned by the Fenway Park Syndicate, had demonstrated a reasonable level of form when winning twice for Gavin Cromwell but his jumping over fences wasn’t always the smoothest to watch.
Making his first chasing appearance for his new yard, the 12/1 shot did well not to be brought down by a faller right in front of him at the first and found a decent rhythm under Conor Stone-Walsh to run out a two-and-a-half-length winner.
McNamara said: “He’s rated lower over fences than hurdles so we said we’d take a chance here. His jumping, up until now, wouldn’t have been good enough, but thankfully it was today.
“Only two claims went in for this horse after he won at Tramore, myself and Gavin, and I was lucky when my name came out of the draw. The celebrations could take place anywhere; there are owners from Limerick, Kerry, Cork, Galway and Dublin.”
THERE was a nod to one of the most unusual results in recent Galway Festival history in the seven-furlong Colm Quinn BMW Irish EBF Fillies Maiden when Jessica Harrington’s Samnina stormed home under Shane Foley to get the better of Ballydoyle juvenile Madam Secretary.
It was in this very race back in 2021 when we thought Harrington and Foley had teamed up with Alizarine to beat an Aidan O’Brien-trained filly in the same Tabor silks as Madam Secretary, only for the result to be ripped up when it emerged a three-year-old named Aurora Princess had accidentally run in the two-year-old’s place.
Five years on, there was no mistaking the outcome. It was a strong effort from both horse and rider to get the verdict close home with a filly by Sea The Moon - coincidentally, the same sire as Alizarine.
Speaking after the Alpha Racing filly’s three-quarters-of-a-length success at 4/1, Harrington said: “She’s a big filly and we wanted to run her on easy ground so came here. She showed great acceleration. I think she will end up being a mile-and-a-half-filly. I like the way she tries.”
Arwen does the impossible
The most dramatic finish of the day was saved for the finale when Conor O’Dwyer’s Lady Arwen blew the start completely and somehow managed to come from the clouds to capture the Caulfield Industrial Handicap.
It looked for all the world that the gamble of the race, Ross O’Sullivan’s class-dropping San Aer (11/4 favourite), had the race in safe keeping when gliding to the front under Donagh O’Connor. However, Billy Lee had something to say about that. He got an almighty tune out of Hugo and Anne Kane’s recent Ballinrobe winner to win by a length and a half.
The red-hot O’Dwyer said: “I’m in racing a long time and I’ve seen a lot of crazy things but that is as mad as anything! I said to Hugo that as long as she comes out of the stalls okay and sits in fifth or sixth, she’d be okay. She stood in the stalls and we thought we were stuffed!
“It was an unbelievable ride. My horses have hit form for no reason, we’re doing nothing different but that’s probably the key to it - keep doing what you do even when they aren’t running well.”