Search Results for 'Punchestown'

Willie Mullins was crowned leading trainer at the 2024 Cheltenham festival. It was his eleventh time to take the award. Willie has trained 103 winners at the festival to date, and looks very likely to bring his total to well over 110 winners next week. On the cusp of a dozen leading trainer at the festival titles, the Mullins domination shows no sign of abating, and it will be the shock of the season if he is not crowned leading trainer at next week’s festival. I expect he will have eight or nine winners. Dan Skelton had a very successful 2024 festival with four winners, and while I do not expect he will match that figure, he should have a couple of winners as he closes in on his first UK trainer’s title. The Nicky Henderson stable was under a cloud at the 2024 festival, but everything seems to be on track for a successful festival this year, and he could pip Gordon Elliott to the runner up spot in the leading trainer competition.

With less than a week to go to the start of the Galway races, now is an opportune time to look at the history of the week’s two major races, to help us identify horses who fit the profile of likely winners.

It has to be the year of the Shark, that’s John ‘Shark’ Hanlon from County Carlow. He bought a horse called Hewick. He didn’t pay dearly for it (not even a thousand euro) and then won the Galway Plate last summer. He added another win at Sandown, and between the two he pocketed half a million euro. Not bad for a year’s work. But just last October he won the American Grand National at Fair Hills in New Jersey with a $160,000 dollar first prize. Now he is 33/1 to take the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March. D’ya think, maybe.

Day six of the Galway Festival takes centre-stage on Saturday afternoon with another cracking eight-race card for punters to enjoy at Ballybrit.

Your preview to Galway Hurdle Day at Ballybrit

One of the feature races of the meeting takes centre-stage on Wednesday evening with the Galway Plate the highlight of a fabulous third day of action at the 2022 Galway Festival.

Day two of the Galway Festival takes centre-stage at Ballybrit this evening with another excellent seven-race card for punters to enjoy.

The seven-day Galway Festival gets underway at Ballybrit on Monday evening with an excellent seven-race card at the track.

Gold Cup and Grand National winning rider Robbie Power is relishing the return of full crowds at this year’s Galway Festival for the first time since 2019.

Former jockey Robbie Power is no stranger to success at the Galway Festival and he is looking forward to being back at the track next week for the seven-day extravaganza.