Galway report: Another Shark attack as Hallowed Star shines

Rachael Blackmore teamed up with her old mentor John ‘Shark’ Hanlon to land the valuable BoyleSports Handicap Hurdle aboard Hallowed Star on the penultimate day of the Galway Festival.

Hanlon is widely credited as the man who set Blackmore on the path to stardom and she repaid the County Carlow handler in spades by steering the seven-year-old to an impressive 17-length success to scoop the €64,900 first-prize.

Ridden prominently by the Gold Cup-winning jockey, Hallowed Star pulled clear on the climb to the straight and survived a mistake at the second last to record an unchallenged victory at 8-1.

Bigger and better things surely await the winner, who scored in the manner of a Graded performer, but for now Hanlon was willing to simply just soak in his second big winner of the week following Hewick’s triumph in Wednesday’s Galway Plate.

“Rachael was super and the horse was super. He was keen in her hands and she had the brains to let him roll on. When you are up there you are out of trouble,” said Hanlon.

“She was very good on him, as she is on them all. She rode one of her first winners here for the Mees (owners) on Camlann so it’s great to have her back in the colours and get another winner for them.

“For me it’s some week to win two feature races in Galway. We have only a small team of horses and to have two features going home is unbelievable.”

He went on: “I have to thank the staff at home and Rachel, my partner. Without them I’d be no-one and it’s the same with every trainer, without the staff they are no-one.

“It’s a tough time with staff, expensive times. For any small trainers out there I’d say keep at it because you’ll get there.

“This means so much to everyone that is involved in horses. It’s a tough time on owners as well because everything has gone so expensive.

“It’s a good crowd today and the other day they were five deep all around when Hewick won. It’s unreal and when they see a small trainer winning they are always there to support them.”

Serious Challenge was a poignant winner of the BoyleSports Casino Irish EBF Maiden for Jim Bolger.

The gelding only made his debut on Tuesday on the opening day of the Festival when third, but stepped up to a mile on this occasion, he beat Aidan O’Brien’s odds-on favourite Hiawatha by three-quarters of a length.

However, after the race Bolger’s daughter Una Manning explained the family had been given some bad news earlier in the day.

“My uncle Paddy, Dad’s brother, passed away a couple of hours ago,” she said.

“He was the person that ran the foaling operation for my father, the stud farm operation down in Wexford, assisted by his son Ken and his wife Margarite.

“Uncle Paddy actually had a winner this time last year in Galway. It’s poignant because he always came to Galway and they loved the meeting so I’d just like to pay tribute to him and offer my condolences to all his family.”

Of the winner she said: “I think the run earlier in the week certainly stood him in good stead today.

“He’s a horse we like a lot. He’s entered in the Futurity (August 20 at the Curragh) and that will probably be the plan with him.

“According to my father we won’t see the best of him until next year.”

Rain overnight and throughout the card made the going quite testing but one who certainly appreciated it was Ray Cody’s Saraqael (5-1) who won the Bathshack Maiden for Billy Lee.

“He’s a lovely horse. He could go further but on that ground I was happy enough he had enough pace for a mile,” said Cody.

“When we step up in trip I’d say he’ll be better. Billy said he’ll get a mile and a half down the line if we need to.

“He travelled fiercely well and Billy said he can only improve as he still rides very raw. It’s only his third run and he’s a big, green horse, even for around here he’s a big unit. He ran through the line really well and I’m delighted with him.

“He’s progressing and I was in no panic after Gowran, we said we’d give him a nice break.”

He went on: “He’s better when he has an ease. Billy said he’ll handle all grounds but even at home he loves an ease in the ground and the more rain that came the more confident I was today.

“We’ll see what the handicapper does and he’s a horse that could end up getting black-type on the Flat, I don’t think he’s too bad and there is a lot more to come.

“We might look for a winners race and see what the owners (Ballygallon Stud) want to do, they are brilliant supporters of mine. Every year they give me two or three and it’s great to get a winner for them here.”