Galway Festival tips: Donn McClean's five horses to follow

Coeur D’Or is nine now, but he retains all his enthusiasm for racing and he could be a big player again in the Colm Quinn BWM Mile on Tuesday.

Winner of the race in 2023 on his Galway debut off a handicap rating of 92, Dermot Weld’s horse did well to finish fourth in the race last year racing off a mark of 100, coming from well back in the field.  He was the only one of the first six home who came from worse than mid-division.

Fourth in the one-mile premier handicap at The Curragh on Irish Guineas weekend on his first run this season, and fifth in the one-mile premier handicap at The Curragh on Irish Derby weekend on his second, you know that his trainer will have had this race on his radar from the start of the season.

He is down to a mark of 98 now, 2lb lower than the mark off which he raced last year.

He is ground versatile which is a positive in a race in which, with not much rain forecast, a couple of those towards the head of the market are at their best with a cut in the ground.

His high draw is not as big a negative as is often believed.  Last year’s winner of this race emerged from stall one, but the previous seven winners were all drawn 10 or higher, and the 12 horses who collectively filled the first four places in the last three renewals before last year were all drawn 13 or higher.

Jazzy Matty has never run at Galway before, but his trainer Cian Collins has reportedly had the race in mind for him since he got him.

Winner of the Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2023 for Gordon Elliott, ridden by the late and greatly lamented Michael O’Sullivan, the Doctor Dino gelding progressed nicely last term over fences, his season culminating in victory in the Grand Annual at the Cheltenham Festival in March, a first Cheltenham Festival win for his young trainer.

The Grand Annual is run over just less than two miles.  The Galway Plate is obviously a much greater test of stamina, run, as it is, over two miles and six and a half furlongs and up Galway’s final incline. But Jazzy Matty won a novices’ chase over 2m5f at Sligo last October and he is a half-brother to Delta Work, an Irish Gold Cup winner, a Savills Chase winner and runner-up in the Grand National.

He could be even better with a greater stamina test and the fact that he had the pace to win the Grand Annual means that he should have no problem travelling at Galway Plate pace.  

He will race off a mark of 142 in the Plate, 7lb higher than the mark off which he won the Grand Annual, but he has the potential to go higher than that. 

A six-year-old who has run just seven times over fences, he should be able to continue his progression over fences, and he is unexposed at this type of trip.  

Sign From Above didn’t have a whole lot of racing room two furlongs out in the 1m6f handicap that Robbies Rock won at The Curragh on Irish Guineas weekend, but he stayed on well late on to take sixth place. 

He stayed on well last time too from the rear, in another 1m6f handicap at Navan, to take fifth place in a race in which the pace held up well.

Trainer Peter Fahey does well at Galway and Sign From Above proved his ability to operate at the track when he finished third in a 1m4f handicap at the 2023 festival, before going back there the following day and winning over 1m6f.

You can be sure that his trainer has had Galway on the radar for him for a little while.  He is rated 78 now, 10lb higher than he was when he won at Galway two years ago, but he won at Listowel over two miles in June last year off a mark of 74 and his current mark should be well within range.

A winner over 2m4f over hurdles and relatively lightly raced on the Flat for his age, he is a strong stayer and the step back up to two miles on the Flat for Wednesday’s race could elicit further progression.

Ross O’Sullivan had a memorable Galway Festival in 2024, and it looks like he will be a trainer to note during Galway week again in 2025.

Strong Link goes to the 2m4f novices’ hurdle on Thursday with a real chance.  He was a nice winner of his bumper at Wexford at the end of May, when he came from back in the field off a moderate pace to win nicely.  That was his third run in a bumper, and it appeared as if he appreciated the step up to two and a half miles.

He stepped forward from that last time on his debut over hurdles when he won a maiden hurdle at Tipperary, again over 2m4f.

The son of Diamond Boy warmed to his task nicely that day for Keith Donoghue, he travelled well into the home straight and he won cosily in the end. 

The gelding is out of a sister to Sempo, who won his maiden hurdle over 2m6f and who finished fifth in an Irish Grand National.  He is a progressive five-year-old who should relish the test that Galway presents and who could go well in a race that his trainer won last year. 

It is remarkable that Gleneagle Bay hasn’t yet won on turf, because he has run some big races in big handicaps.

Winner of his maiden at Dundalk on his debut in March last year, his only run to date on all-weather, he put up a big performance to finish second to Dance Night Andday in the Sovereign Path Handicap on Irish Champions’ Weekend at Leopardstown last September, and he rounded off last season by finishing second in another premier handicap at The Curragh in November.

Fifth in the Irish Lincoln on his debut this season, he was a little unlucky in the Victoria Cup at Ascot in May, when he had to do a lot of his own running on the near side, before going down by a nose and a short head to Hickory and Qirat.

He is creeping up the handicap, but a mark of 95 is still more than workable and Galway’s stiff seven furlongs should suit him well.

Trainer Stephen Thorne is a having a really good season, he has his horses in tremendous form and his last three runners have all won. You can be sure that he will have all his runners primed for Galway.