Willie Mullins the man to follow as Galway delivers plenty of success
The Kilkenny trainer had a very successful Galway, all told, with 10 winners on the board, including two of the featured events
Willie Mullins – who else? – was the man to follow at Galway last Wednesday as victory by King Alexander in the Plate was the clear highlight in a 755-1 treble for the Closutton stable.
The champion trainer fielded four runners in the Grade 3 Tote Galway Plate and it was the biggest priced of that quartet which prevailed. It was his third time to win the summer showpiece after Blazing Tempo in 2011 and Royal Rendezvous a decade later.
A 20-1 chance, King Alexander raced prominently and jumped well throughout for Mallow jockey Daniel King. They assumed the lead at the bottom of the homestretch and had just enough in reserve to fend off the fast-finishing Conyers Hill (25-1) by half a length.
Mullins had a very successful Galway, all told, with 10 winners on the board, including two of the featured events over jumps and on the Flat.
Six of the eight returned well-backed favourites and there is any amount of promise to come with a few of them. For example, take Columbus (10-11) who won the maiden hurdle on the Saturday by seven lengths under Paul Townend.
Witches Familiar got punters off to the best possible start at the Galway Races 2026, bolting up as the 13-8 favourite for the Willie Mullins and Paul Townend team.
Hopes are high this filly will develop into another top-class hurdler to carry the famous pink Ricci silks after she scored unchallenged by over eight lengths.
The evergreen master amateur jockey Derek O’Connor teamed with the irresistible training force that is Joseph O’Brien to plunder the feature event on the first day of the Galway Races via Comfort Zone.
The Connacht Hotel Handicap for qualified riders over 2m1f featured a full and typically competitive field of 20 runners. Comfort Zone was strongly fancied in the event a year prior in the hands of O’Connor, but the pair never got competitive from an inside draw.
On this occasion, they drew widest of all with the veteran rider content to give his mount some daylight and clear running. The ploy worked as they launched their bid off the home turn, found the lead with 100m to race and kept on for a three-quarters of a length margin at the line. He returned an 18-1 chance in the colours of JP McManus.
With Monday’s big race in the bag, Joseph O’Brien struck again quickly at Galway on Monday when Dancing Saxon made it three wins from her last four starts in the Clayton Hotel Handicap.
This 7f race was restricted to three-year-olds and the winning filly had loads in hand – 16lbs in fact. She was unpenalised (rated 80) for finishing second in a Listed race just days earlier at Naas and it showed.
Dancing Saxon settled in midfield, advanced but widest off the home turn and cleared out to win by over four lengths. She returned the 13-8 favourite.
Teofil (7-2) edged a thrilling conclusion to the bumper to wind up Monday’s programme at Galway to preserve trainer Jim Bolger’s decades-long prominence at the big meeting.
How this homebred in the colours of Jackie Bolger had to battle to gain a neck margin over Which Flannerys (3-1). It was a duel that started before the final turn with no quarter asked or given and credit to jockey John Gleeson for conjuring a telling final blow.
The stamina of Samnina won the day in the seven-furlong fillies’ maiden at Galway on Tuesday as Jessica Harrington and Shane Foley got on the scoresheet at the big meeting.
Ridden close to the pace at Galway, she responded to pressure best inside the final half furlong to score by three-quarters of a length at odds of 4-1. The Aidan O’Brien-trained Madam Secretary (3-1 joint favourite) ran second.
Wille Mullins began Wednesday’s card by taking out the 2m6f maiden hurdle with Mr Hollywood (2-1 favourite) in the hands of Brian Hayes.
Mullins also rang the bell with Venusienne in the mares’ handicap hurdle. The 11-1 chance was a first winner at the track for JP McManus’ retained rider Harry Cobden.
A French import, the six-year-old was winning for the second time in Ireland and she proved over two lengths too strong for the well-backed 4-1 favourite Fratas. She looks a bright prospect.
Well-backed into 7-2 joint favourite, Cock And Bull got trainer Emmet Mullins and apprentice Sam Coen into the coveted Galway winners’ enclosure in Wednesday’s closing event.
Just a neck separated him from the English challenger Wahraan (28-1) at the end of the extended two-mile handicap. It was Cock And Bull’s first winner for Mullins since joining his team from Britain late last year. Mullins teamed up with another Coen, this time leading rider Ben, when Vantage Code won the Hop House 13 handicap over 1m6f on the Friday for owners the Mee family who always covet success at the meeting.
Joseph O’Brien got Thursday at Galway off to the best possible start when Seven Nation Army struck the right note in the nursery which opened the card.
Well-backed into 13-8 favourite, Joey Sheridan’s principal task was to settle his keen-running mount through the early stages. With that achieved, the winner was travelling much the best off the home and from there he cleared out to win by almost five lengths.
Jockey Billy Lee won the feature event on Friday, the Guinness Handicap over 12 furlongs on Thread Of Gold for Mullins. This three-year-old was a level above his rivals here and will soon be mixing it in stakes races.
Thread Of Gold sold to American interests after winning on debut at the Curragh last year and has now won his last two starts. Success at Galway arrived by about two lengths and he was well supported in the market to 3-1.
Other short-priced favourites to get the job done for Mullins were Vicar Street (13-8) for JP McManus in the beginners’ chase on Friday and Run Ted Run (5-4), narrowly, in the bumper on Thursday under Patrick Mullins.
Closutton added two more winners on the final day when Blood Destiny (5-1) and Paul Townend won a handicap chase by nearly four lengths, the same margin of victory posted by Caher Roes Den (9-2) in the staying handicap hurdle for Danny Mullins.