Codd ends wait for success at Galway
Festival hoodoo brought to a close
I HAVE a confession to make - I am not really a fan of the Galway Racing Festival which attracts so much uncritical acclaim from most of the national media. I think it is more of a social than a real racing occasion, and there is nothing wrong with that for those who enjoy that side of things.
That is my personal view and I accept I am probably in a small minority. Certainly, quite a few of the betting plots came up last week and the bookies will not have fond memories of quite a few races at this festival.
Wexford success was very limited but Jamie Codd will be happy. He had to wait until the last race of the entire meeting on Sunday evening to score not only his first win of the week, but his first-ever win at the Galway Festival after 15 or 16 years of trying.
He gave another outstanding ride to Adrian Keatley’s Mountain Rock (10/1) to get up in the last half furlong of the Fr. Breen Memorial bumper to beat Finny Maguire on Dermot Weld’s hot favourite, First Figaro.
Prior to this the closest to a Wexford win was in the bumper on Thursday evening when Liz Doyle’s Deise Diamond was pipped by a head on the line under the same Finny Maguire, and Codd was second in Saturday’s bumper on Joy’s Gift (14/1) for Peter Fahy, well behind a Mullins hot shot.
Colin Bowe’s Shantou Flyer (10/1) was fancied enough in the Plate and went well for a long way but faded in the last two furlongs.
I do enjoy having a moderate wager. I had been going pretty well but what happened to me on Tuesday convinced me it was time to give it a rest.
I did two singles and a double: I had Briar Hill (6/4) for Ruby Walsh and Willie Mullins in Galway; he was beaten by a head in a desperate finish by Barry Cash on Talk The Lingo, priced at 66/1!
Worse followed in the second leg: I had Richard Johnson on Gordon Elliott’s Tajseer at Perth, at a nice 3/1; he was beaten into second by Northern Ireland amateur Noel McParlan on Drummullagh Rocky at a price of 100/1!!! The luck had definitely run out.
I suppose racing is all about winning, but this can hide some great riding by those who are not always on the best horses. I thought there was a perfect example of this at Glorious Goodwood on Friday with two terrific rides by Enniscorthy’s Pat Dobbs on long shots.
In the £56,000-to-the-winner Group 3 three-year-old stakes, he streaked home to grab third place on 25/1 shot Light Up The World for his boss, Richard Hannon, just inches behind Paul Hanagan on favourite Thikriaat and Ryan Moore on Forge (9/2).
In the following Betfred Mile, worth £93,000 to the winner, he was second to Moore again who won with hot favourite Franklin D (7/4), but Dobbs was closing him down and only failed to get up by a short head on 20/1 shot, Master of the World, for David Elsworth.
These were two brilliant rides at the very highest level by the 37-years-old Enniscorthy man and hardly merited a footnote on the Channel 4 and other media coverage. However, boss Richard Hannon, for whom he has worked for 18 years, describes Dobbs as an integral and invaluable part of his team.
Dobbs had a nice winner at Chester on Sunday on Who Dares Wins (6/1) for Alan King, a trainer usually associated with the jumps.
Back to Goodwood: on Wednesday Jimmy Fortune from Ferns had a great win on Star Rider (11/1) for Hughie Morrison in a 20-runner handicap worth over £30,000 to the winner.
He is 44 now and has spent most of his racing career in Britain, being leading jockey for John Gosden until they parted and he went freelance six years ago.
He is recognised as one of the strongest riders in a finish. Since going to England in 1988 as a young apprentice, he has ridden almost 1,840 winners, twice getting the ton up in a season.
The flow of winners may be slowing down now, but Fortune has had a career that would be the envy of most.
Three times he has won more than £2 million in prize money in a season and he has topped the £1m. mark on nine other occasions.
Of course, Aidan O’Brien picked up four of the biggest races at Goodwood with Ryan Moore - War Decree on Tuesday; The Gurkha in the Sussex Stakes on Wednesday, Minding in the Nassau on Saturday, and they also won with Rhododendron.
Aidan is nearly £3m ahead in the British trainers’ championship and is in the midst of another golden spell.
Daryl Jacob from Caim is gradually working his way into the jumps season and his two wins last week brought his tally to 13. On Tuesday he won on Casino Markets (10/3f) for Emma Lavelle at Worcester, and the next day he made the long trip to Perth pay off when his only ride, Ballykan, was a winner for Nigel Twiston-Davies.
Tom O’Brien from Adamstown also had a winner at Worcester, on Northern Meeting (11/8f) for Richard Stephens; Jimmy Quinn (New Ross) won on Brorocco (13/2) at Newmarket on Friday for Andrew Balding, and P.J. McDonald won the main race at Thirsk on Saturday on Muntadab (9/2f) for David Loughnane.
Like everyone in racing I extend sincere sympathy to the wife, family and friends of J.T. McNamara on his death after a brave three-year struggle following a fall at the 2013 Cheltenham Festival.
I was there that day and the place was stunned when the helicopter came in to take him away. Many heartfelt and deserved tributes have been paid to him.
Fixtures: after a week devoted exclusively to Galway, there are ten meetings in the next seven days - Tuesday, Roscommon and Cork; Wednesday, Sligo; Thursday, Sligo and Leopardstown; Friday, Tipperary; Saturday, Kilbeggan; Sunday, Curragh and Downpatrick; Monday, August 8, Ballinrobe.