ROSS O’Sullivan took the Galway Festival by storm 12 months ago and made no secret of how highly he regards Strong Link in the lead-up to this year’s meeting. That faith was rewarded in spades when the highly-progressive five-year-old provided the yard with a first victory of the 2025 fixture, and back-to-back wins in the Guinness Novice Hurdle.

Sent off 5/2 on the back of promising bumper and maiden hurdle wins at Wexford and Tipperary respectively, the Tinnahinch Construction Limited-owned youngster got a gorgeous seam down the inner to pull off what at one stage looked an unlikely length-and-a-quarter success over Cameletta Vega.