Galway is here and ready to roll. Strap in for a rollercoaster that doesn't stop until Sunday evening. There are 50 races to be run on the undulations Ballybrit but there are two that matter most to connections and probably punters as well, it means a little bit more to back the winner of a 22-strong Galway Plate than say, a lowly handicap, doesn't it?

Here is to trying to crack the code of the two biggest races this week:

GALWAY HURDLE

Whiskey Sour is the right favourite for the Galway Hurdle on Thursday. He won two of the feature flat handicaps last year and it’s fair to assume that since then, the plan was to come back to Ballybrit for the second richest race on the Irish jumps racing calendar. In the meantime he has shown that he is just below Grade 1 level over hurdles, having actually won at the top level but admittedly that win came in extremely fortunate circumstances.

He showed by finishing third to Mohaayed in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham that he can be a force off his current rating in a top level handicap and back at Galway where course form is so important he will surely prove a tough nut to crack.

There are, as you would expect in a race with €300,000 in prize money, other horses to seriously consider, and for me, the right second favourite should be Davids Charm. That however isn’t the case, with John Joe Walsh’s horse still available to back at 12/1 and that looks like a generous price.

Davids Charm was a thoroughly impressive winner at last year's Galway Festival

There wasn’t a more progressive horse in Ireland last year than the seven-year-old who won a handicap hurdle at Listowel in June off a mark of 95 and then defied a 39lb higher to win the big handicap hurdle at the Fairyhouse winter festival, winning at Galway in between. There was talk of Cheltenham then but his trainer suggested he was too inexperienced, that he was green hitting the front and that another year would do him better.

That looks a fair call and it also suggests the son of Milan could well have a lot more to give, his racing style backing up his trainer’s assertions. He warmed up for this with two runs on the flat, the second of which he showed good progress from the first and goes back to Galway a fit horse ready to resume his progression over hurdles. A year older, he could well be a more mature horse now, and with that he could easily progress again at a track we know he handles. He handles both sets of ground but if it came up soft, that could probably help bring his stamina he showed when winning over two miles and five furlongs at Galway last year, into play.

The other horse to consider is another Mullins runner, Low Sun. He isn’t a certainty to get in, considering he is 27 on the list at the moment but if he does, he has the profile to make up into a serious contender. He was a little disappointing earlier in the National Hunt season but he took off to win the big two-mile handicap hurdle at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival and then put up two solid efforts in defeat two fiercely competitive handicaps at Punchestown. He recently won a good handicap on the flat at Curragh and that just suggests that the Susannah Ricci-owned five-year-old is a seriously progressive horse in the form of his life. It’s worth waiting to see if he will get a run but if he does, he’s worth adding to the portfolio a 16/1.

GALWAY PLATE

It’s 8/1 the field in the Galway Plate which isn’t a great surprise with no horse really jumping off the page. Tully East may well have a big handicap performance in him but he probably needs a few things to fall right for him on the day and Patricks Park might well be a more suitable favourite considering his improvement for Willie Mullins. That said he was probably a bit lucky to win at Punchestown and he has had another 8lbs added to his rating.

Of the main contenders, Blazer struck me as the one who could be the best handicapped horse in the race. He was last seen finishing fourth in a two-mile novice handicap chase at Fairyhouse in a race which has been significantly enhanced by the subsequent performances of Bon Papa, Crosshue Boy and the aforementioned Patricks Park, whom Blazer finished 10 lengths in front of.

That day he probably just got done for toe, having looked the most likely winner earlier in the straight and it could be that he is just crying out for a trip, of which can be backed up further by his best effort over hurdles coming when finishing fourth in Diamond King’s Coral Cup.

The problem is, he is 33 on the list so it’s difficult to see him getting in at present. It is certainly worth keeping your powder dry until tomorrow. That probably goes for this race as a rule, as with declarations out in the morning, you can then bet with the confidence that you’ll get your money back if your selection is a non-runner.

When the declarations come out, I fully expect to see Valseur Lido on the list and if that is the case, he will be a very interesting contender. He is a Grade 1 winner over fences but he’ll show up here off a mark of 153. That is because his form tailed off last season but he looked more like himself when finishing eighth in the Aintree Grand National. He was well beaten in the end but he was bang there with the main group turning for home and it was probably the case that he just didn’t stay the marathon distance.

If that run signalled a return to form, he will be a huge player here. That of course is still a big ‘if’ but it’s also worth pointing out that there are two factors that could help him on Wednesday. The first is the probability that he will be racing on much better ground. When you gather his form figures achieved on ground described as good to yielding or better you get: 213221. That sequence takes on a good deal more significance when you consider all but one of those figures was achieved in a Grade 1.

Second factor at play is Valseur Lido’s record fresh. On Wednesday he will be appearing 109 days after his previous run. When you gather his form figures for his reappearances of 109 days or more you get: 11215. Again the last three figures were achieved in Grade 1 races. Indeed the ‘5’ was his best run of last season, in the Christmas Chase where he was beaten 14 lengths by Road To Respect. Even if he was able to replicate just that level of performance in Galway, it would give him a chance, yet he could well do even better if he gets good ground.

He is still only a nine-year-old and you’re talking about a proven Grade 1 horse running off a what could be a very lenient mark in a handicap over perhaps his optimum trip of an extended two miles and six furlongs. He is also representing the same connections that won this race last year with Balko Des Flos and this has been the plan for him since Aintree. At 33/1 he looks massively overpriced.