Guinness Galway Hurdle: four key runners and a 25-1 tip

** This column was first published on Monday July 21 and has been updated.

The Guinness Galway Hurdle has been dominated by three trainers since 2014, with Tony Martin, Willie Mullins and Joseph O’Brien not giving anyone else a look-in.

Mullins has landed five renewals during this period; Martin has scooped four and O’Brien has picked up the other pair, including last year with Nurburgring routing the opposition.

It cannot be long odds that one of the trio again lands the €159,300 first prize, as Mullins has seven entries to juggle and O’Brien three.

Martin has just the one, in Putapoundinthejar, but that’s all he needed in 2014, when Thomas Edison delighted favourite backers, and 2022, when the remarkable Tudor City won the race for a second time.

But none of the trio's candidates tick every box and the bookmakers are going 8-1 the field. This could be the year when someone else muscles in on the action. 

The 30 entries in the mix include two British-trained contenders in Dysart Enos (Fergal O’Brien) and Wilful (Jonjo and AJ O’Neill). The latter went close at the Punchestown Festival, in May.

This is a race that has taunted and teased Gordon Elliott, who has still yet to win it. His four possible runners this time include Ndaawi, runner-up in last year’s race, having also finished second in the County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Here are five early fancies for the feature, which you can watch live on Racing TV. 

RaceIQ Jump Index score: 7.1. Galway form: 38. Odds: 25-1. 

It’s all going to click for Helvic Dream over hurdles one day, isn’t it? 

I’ve been following him over Jumps for some while and the 2021 Tattersalls Gold Cup winner has been an utter tease, often threatening to hit the jackpot, only to usually find one or two too good, whether it be back on the Flat or over Jumps. 

Recent examples include his near-miss at Fairyhouse’s Festival meeting in April, which was followed by a close fifth at Punchestown, and then length third back on the Flat at The Curragh last time. 

On the latest occasion, he was conceding lumps of weight to Mr Percy, but that is reversed here.

I used to think he wanted deep ground but he seems versatile regards underfoot conditions. 

Noel Meade has had four placed runners in the race since 2017. Helvic Dream, who ran on the Flat at the Galway Festival in 2019 and 2020, is a big price to add to his tally. 

RaceIQ Jump Index score: 7.3. Galway form: 2. Odds: 10-1. 

Fingers got burnt on Mr Percy at the Galway Festival last year, when he got touched off on a staying handicap on the Flat after going off a well-backed 13-8 favourite. 

He's available at much bigger odds at the time of typing, but I’ll be surprised if he is anything like 10-1 on the day. 

His trainer, Joseph O’Brien, was responsible for last year’s easy winner, after all, and Mr Percy will line up in great heart after scoring on the Flat over 1m 6f at The Curragh last month, having previously landed a Grade Two contest over hurdles at Fairyhouse. He fended off Fleur In The Park in the latter, and that horse went on to be placed in Grade One company at Punchestown. 

Mr Percy now makes his handicap debut off a workable mark of 140. The one question mark hanging over him is whether a speedy 2m will bring out the best in him. He’s a stayer on the Flat and that Fairyhouse success was gained over 2m 4f. 

RaceIQ Jump Index score: 6.8. Galway form: --. Odds: 16-1. 

The last of three British-trained winners of the Galway Hurdle was Overturn, in 2010, although four have been placed in the past decade. 

Dysart Enos looks capable of a bold showing, for all that she’s been an underachiever since beginning her career with six successive victories under Rules, including in a Grade One bumper at Aintree, when she hammered a future Champion Hurdle winner, Golden Ace, by nine lengths. 

She’s not won a race since January 2024 and there have been some low days along the way, but the suspicion remains she can win a big handicap, especially if she can add a bit more zip to her jumping. 

Her close fourth in last season’s Scottish Champion Hurdle hinted as much, as did her third to handicap snip Burdett Road in last year’s Greatwood Hurdle. 

She runs off the same mark as at Ayr, with a first run on the Flat early this month likely to have added an edge. Ground no worse than good to soft seems to suit her well. 

RaceIQ Jump Index score: 6.9. Galway form: 2. Odds: 9-1. 

One win from seven starts over hurdles does little justice to Ndaawi. 

He was third in the Fred Winter of 2024; runner-up in the Galway Hurdle later that summer; and second in last year’s County Hurdle. 

The five-year-old clearly deserves a big handicap success somewhere down the road, although you get a sense the assessor may be one step ahead of him. For instance, he’s 5lb higher than at Cheltenham, and a full 11lb higher than 12 months ago, when Nurburgring put him in his place. 

I wouldn’t be too worried that his Jump Index score is below 7. He wasn’t the most fluent in his early days but is much better these days, registering scores of 7.8, 7.3 and 7.5 in his past three starts over hurdles.