Galway Festival: trainers to note not named Weld or Mullins

Of all the big festivals in the calendar, none quite has the popular touch of Galway and that’s reflected by €200,000 features such as the Galway Hurdle supplemented by 50-85 Flat handicaps among a programme of over 50 races which gives more chances to win for owners and trainers, and particularly for those not operating at the top level. 

That’s not to say the bigger fish don’t swim in this pond though and, of the 735 races run at the Galway Festival since 2010, no less than 100 have been won by Willie Mullins and a further 84 by Dermot Weld – remarkably, both men are responsible for 25 per cent of the total winners at the meeting between them over the last 14 years. 

Both Rosewell House and Closutton will surely take home plenty more prize-money from Ballybrit next week, but there are several more outfits that like a winner at this famous meeting and ones that may not be so readily accounted for by the betting markets. 

Here are three that have proven profitable over the last decade and more and ones that could prove to be on the right side once again this time. 

The Kildare trainer has sent 116 runners to the Galway Festival and backing all of those blind would have only posted a marginal loss, while the overall performance at thise starting prices was better than that expected by the market (1.13 actual over expected winners).

Boasting an 11 per cent strike-rate across both codes, Fahey does OK with his Flat runners (4 from 44 and a 34 per cent place strike-rate that tallies with his overall 36 per cent strike-rate) but perhaps unsurprisingly his jumpers have proven the ones to really focus on. 

Fahey is 9 from 72 with his jumpers at the Galway Festival (13 per cent, 38 per cent placed, 1.28 A/E), while the trainer is three from seven in non-handicaps over fences. 

From a much smaller sample size, Peter’s cousin Mark Fahey is also one to keep an eye on as a trainer who targets Galway with good results from small numbers. From four runners at each of the last two festivals, he has come home with a winner from each and at decent prices, while Rhythm King was very well-backed last year in a 50-85 handicap and he could be back again, especially if the ground is on the easy side. 

The trainer of Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle and Grand National winners in recent years, the Waterford trainer is hardly a left-field choice here but his winners at the Galway Festival are quite noteworthy in comparison to what is the more customary modus operandi of the yard. 

De Bromhead would not be a noted trainer of handicappers – a 10 per cent strike-rate in all jumps races since 2010 and performance well below expectations with his handicap debutants at just 7 per cent (0.59 A/E) – but his such runners at the Galway Festival over the last decade and more have fared well, with 12 winners from 100 runners to a level stakes profit of £42 in performance 46 per cent better than expected (1.46 A/E). 

A trainer who particularly excels with his horses over fences, the stable’s handicap runners over the larger obstacles have proven of particular interest at the Galway Festival since 2010 (14 per cent, 25 per cent placed, 1.8 A/E). 

The Tipperary trainer tasted success with his latest runner at the famous meeting and has struck at seven of the last Galway Festivals at which he’s had runners. 

Murphy has sent out just four runners over jumps since 2010 and his Flat figures at Galway are excellent, with a 14 per cent strike-rate from 74 runners (+£24.88, 32 per cent placed, 1.49 A/E). His record is strong across the board and in both handicaps and non-handicaps. 

That record and at the competitive Galway Festival is in marked contrast to the yard’s overall Flat strike-rate of 8 per cent since 2010 and place strike-rate of 25 per cent in that time, again suggesting that this is a meeting that the stable particularly targets.