WILLIE Mullins got Tote Galway Plate day off to a flyer with winners in two of the first three races.
Mr Hollywood brought a high degree of flat class to the table in the two-mile-six-furlong maiden hurdle, sponsored by Tote, and backed up his Queen Alexandra Stakes third with a gritty first success over hurdles.Brian Hayes timed his challenge nicely on Ronnie Lawrie’s former German Derby second and justified 2/1 favouritism to beat a back-to-form Jeroboam Machin.Mullins said: “He’s improving and his jumping will improve. Probably a trip to York for the Ebor might be next on the agenda.
“That jumping will just put him in a nicer frame of mind, I think. Looking at the way he finished there, and at Ascot, I think he deserves a crack at a big prize over in York.”
Easy for Cobden
A candidate for most stylish National Hunt winner of the week came in the Tote Irish EBF Mares Handicap Hurdle when Harry Cobden ticked Galway off his list of Irish tracks aboard the impressive Venusienne.
J.P. McManus’ French recruit had looked a high-class prospect when hacking up in a Tramore maiden hurdle last October, and she left a recent Kilbeggan defeat behind here when scoring by a cosy two and a half lengths.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was that she returned at 11/1 (from a morning price of 7/2) after Mullins gave her a positive mention on RTÉ Racing beforehand.
“I wish he’d told me!” quipped McManus. Mullins added: “She disappointed me at Kilbeggan the last day, but I was happy enough with her form coming into today’s race.
“Harry was very cool on her. It was all about settling her and he settled her nicely. She’s going to improve and she’ll jump fences down the road as well.”
No Bull about this Mullins stayer
Sam Coen was seen at his strongest in a driving finish to the concluding Tote-backed handicap over an extended two miles when Emmet Mullins’ Cock And Bull got the better of a prolonged tussle with capable stayer Wahraan.
Sent off the 7/2 joint-favourite, the recent Curragh third was notching his first victory since joining the Grand National-winning trainer from Michael Bell.
He found generously for pressure and the front pair pulled five and a half lengths clear of the rest. The now five-time winner carries the colours of Sarah Dale, Wayne Dale and Ian Foster.
Speaking after back-to-back wins in the race (won 12 months ago with Teed Up), Mullins said: “He had a nice run at the Curragh and it was nice to be able to step up from it.
“We’d originally thought that he might scrape into the Connacht Hotel on the Monday night, but the ratings were a bit higher this year.
“He was spot on for today and it was great to see him stick his neck out. He’s a very tough and genuine horse. He’s a pleasure.”
Mighty breakthrough
Another trainer who brought up consecutive victories in the same race on day three was Declan Queally. His Mighty Berkshire picked quite the moment to pop up for his first win for an enthusiastic bunch of owners in the Man About Dog Syndicate, who gave him a major reception in the winner’s enclosure.
Tried in cheekpieces for the first time, he was nibbled at in the market from 10/1 to 6/1 in the morning before returning at 15/2 under Declan Queally Jr, who picked up a two-day whip ban in the process.
The winning rider, speaking after a late-lunging length-and-a-quarter win, said: “That was brilliant. We got his wind done, I felt he’d improved and I thought he had a nice run back at Kilbeggan [when fourth]. I said I’d wait for this race and it worked out.
“He’s a very spooky horse and I took my chance riding him from behind. He had something to aim at and he stayed on well up the hill.”
AFTER kicking off the week with a second and a third from his first two runners in maidens, Dermot Weld made no mistake in the Tote Qualified Riders Maiden when Juddmonte three-year-old Abbotsford coasted to a seven-and-a-half-length success.
Finny Maguire found a smart response from the Frankel gelding when sending him about his business in the straight. The 7/4 favourite soon put daylight between himself and dual bumper/maiden hurdle winner Sunny South West and the easy-to-back Daddy Long Legs.
“He’s a lovely big horse,” said Weld. “He’s still very immature but he’s a horse with a future and did well from a wide draw. We decided to give him time after his last start and it paid dividends.
“Finny gave him an excellent ride and is a lovely rider - I don’t know why people don’t use him more. He’s been riding for me for years. He and John Gleeson are exceptional young riders and two good guys.”
Rockett takes flight
John Nallen has sold some quality horses in his time and he dubbed Minella Rockett as “a Triumph Hurdle horse for someone” after he followed up a recent juvenile hurdle win with a gutsy success in a competitive three-year-old handicap over an extended mile.
It was a tight finish to this Tote-sponsored event and Joey Sheridan had a willing partner in the shape of this 80-rated gelding. A little more than a length and a quarter separated the first five (four of them last-time-out winners), with the 10/1 winner finishing a neck in front of runner-up Johnny Soda at the line.
Nallen said: “He’s a tough little horse. He probably didn’t fully see out the mile and a quarter [earlier in the season] at Navan, but that was a serious race and everything has won out of it.
“We were a bit worried about the ground, but this has been the plan since Navan. We ran him over hurdles in the meantime, and he’ll be a Triumph Hurdle horse for someone hopefully.
“He’s been on the market the whole time, but my value of him and other people’s value of him is different.”
There was a sting in the tail for Sheridan, who received an eight-day whip ban for his third offence in this regard.