It’s Ladies Day at Galway and I’ll be applying a liberal splash of Blue Stratos before throwing myself into the fray on day 4 of another brilliant Galway race week.
After an anxious wait to see whether or not he’d make the cut, connections of Guinness Galway Hurdle favourite Deutschland are in line for a bumper pay day as the Willie Mullins-trained six year old prepares to take Thursday’s major prize.
Campaigned over fences and on the level recently this in-form son of Red Ransom would have faced the imposte of top weight in the Plate, but instead opts for this far more attractive looking assignment with a mere 10st 5lbs to shoulder.
Herr Ruby Walsh gets the leg up and can boot home Deutschland in front of a packed Ladies Day crowd at Ballybrit on his first hurdles start since January.
A winner of his last three starts – over fences at Punchestown, then on the Flat at Navan and Dundalk, the second of which was a wide margin rout on the all weather, earning him a Flat rating of 100, all augurs well for a big display this afternoon.
The small matter of 20 runners on a tight track on testing ground means he’ll need a bit of luck in-running, but he’s got the perfect bloke doing the steering and as such is a confident win bet at 9/2 with either Coral or Totesport.
For info anyone playing each way at bigger prices on one of the outsiders should shop at Paddy Power – they’re doing the sensible thing and offering 1/4 odds a place 1-2-3-4-5.
Over at Goodwood in the opener (2.10pm) my old friend Mirrored gets his chance to atone for a disasterous run at Sandown last time when he was given a rather generous amount to do in the Coral Challenge, flying at them late on when the race was gone.
Up 7lbs for that shambles the Britannia Stakes third can make up for lost time and get back on the score sheet today. Back him to do so at 4/1 (general with most bookmakers).
A little later at 2.45pm the sprinters take their turn in the Group 3 Audi Stakes over the minimum trip, and I can’t resist a few quid each way on Luca Cumani’s Greek import Ialysos.
A winner at Haydock on his English debut, he failed to land a blow in the Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot, but bounced back in style at Sandown last time to net the Group 3 Coral Charge on Eclipse day.
Entries in both the Nunthorpe and the Haydock Sprint Cup (both Group 1’s) suggest Luca has loftier ambitions than today’s task for the five year old – an each way investment at 7/1 with Coral is the way to go.
Good luck!
