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Ruby Walsh knows a thing or two about the Galway Festival – he tells us what it takes to come out on top

, Ruby Walsh knows a thing or two about the Galway Festival – he tells us what it takes to come out on top

SUMMER would not be the same without the Galway Festival.

It’s a real ‘people’s event’, the closest any racegoer can get to the buzz of Cheltenham outside the National Hunt season proper.

A common sight – Ruby in the winners’ enclosure at Galway

I’ve been going there since I was a kid because my dad [Ted] was working for RTE. I would have been 11 years old the first time I went — I remember it well because it was the year, 1990, when Mick Kinane won the King George at Ascot on Belmez.

It’ll feel a little strange this year without the crowds there of course, but the racing will be as good as ever and I cannot wait to see how Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott get on in the early scrimmages for the trainers’ title.

Everybody has their string fired up for the week and you can be sure Willie will want to get another Plate win after seeing Gordon take three of the last four runnings!

I was fortunate to win the Plate twice in my career, but my first memory of success at Ballybrit was when riding what was probably the second winner of my career aboard Siren Song when I was 16.

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It was a competitive bumper and I held him up and produced him on the home turn to win by a hard-fought length.

It was the start of a real love affair with the track.

The following year I managed to win the GPT Amateur Handicap (now called the Connacht Hotel Handicap) — a race every amateur wants to win.

I won it on Garaiyba for John Oxx and that was a real buzz. It was great to get one up on my dad, who never managed to win the race, and it’s great to have a bit of craic with Patrick Mullins, who is a top-class amateur and has been desperately trying to win the race for years.

The Plate is the race every jockey wants to win though and I got my first taste fairly early on when winning it on Moscow Express in 1999.

I was just starting my career and to get a big win in a race like the Galway Plate was huge.

He was trained by Pat Smullen’s wife Frances Crowley and it was great to do the business for them.

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The second time I won it was on Oslot in 2008 for Paul Nicholls. It was the golden point in my career – with the pick of the Willie Mullins’ runners and with Nicholls having the best horses in England.

Oslot was a fair tool and he had the right profile for the race — but barely got the trip!

His natural pace and slick jumping came into play though and I had an armchair ride till the home straight where he emptied on me.

It is so important to get a good early position in the Plate.

We got into a good rhythm early and managed to win despite not fully getting the trip. Ironically, he never won another race under rules after the Galway Plate.

Two years earlier I had the pleasure of riding Galway legend Ansar to finish second. He had won the last two renewals and I somehow managed to get him beat!

To be fair to myself, he was a little high in the weights for a small horse, but there was no doubting his heart.

Ansar was an excellent jumper and it was an honour to ride him — his record at Galway speaks for itself.

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For all that the Plate is the main event, the major highlight for me over the years at Ballybrit  would have to be Clondaw Warrior winning the Galway Hurdle in 2016.

He was a bonny little horse — a real street fighter — and I had been trying to win the Hurdle for years.

It is always an added bonus when one of the co-owners happens to be your wife too!

Let’s just say I was in the good books for a while!

, Ruby Walsh knows a thing or two about the Galway Festival – he tells us what it takes to come out on top

Clondaw Warrior was the highlight of a plethora of Galway Festival memories

THE START

A GOOD start is key at Ballybrit.

It’s hard to the metal from the off – everybody wants a position and you can’t see the first fence just past the furlong pole from where you begin.

You are always on a right-hand turn too and with the number of runners you can’t really make up too much ground.

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Everything in racing is about pace and positioning – a good start will give you that here and the ability to travel at speed is essential.

JUMPING

COURSE tactics are essential.

It goes without saying that good jumping is critical. but there are a couple of key fences where you want to be planning particularly well so you can really pile on the pressure.

The last two fences are very close together. Some people compare them to the famous Railway fences at Sandown – but they are not the same.

At Sandown, the distance between the fences is not exact so you have a bit more time to get the stride pattern right.

Galway is like that in a way, but different too because of the short distance between the second last and the last.

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They come at you fast and on the downhill before the climb to the home turn.

I would always aim to pop the second last and look for a stride at the final fence, so I could get a breather in.

If you jump the second last perfectly, 99 times out of 100 you are not going to be on a stride coming to the last – and that is where mistakes can happen.

You ask for a jump that is not there and you can’t pop because the race is hotting up.

Experience is key.

THE CIRCUIT

BALLYBRIT boasts a jumps track packed with secrets and unique challenges.

A fast start is crucial and as the race unfolds the course demands shrewd judgment of pace, position and spot-on jumping.

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This is critical again in the tricky negotiation of the last two fences before the call for stamina in a gut-wrenching finish.

Things have started to settle down a little by the middle part of the race and you must be in a nice rhythm by the time you hit the final circuit.

A handy position once again becomes so important here because of how testing Galway is. You can’t make ground uphill on the home straight on the first circuit because of the number of runners, so you have to sit and suffer.

That is why you see a lot of horses who finish fast and late – more often than not they have found themselves with too much ground to make up because the start of the race has not gone to plan.

THE FINISH

AFTER jumping the last two fences the initial climb out of the dip is stamina-sapping and that is where you see the horses that haven’t jumped them well falling in a hole.

It’s at this point that you try to gallop up the hill without going for everything.

It is lung-bursting for sure, but not really comparable to the famous hill at Cheltenham, which is a constant climb from half a mile out.

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Galway is a two and a half furlong climb that does level off. You swing off the home turn and depending on the ground, you either stay on the rail or drift standside where the crowd is.

As long as you can keep your horse balanced you should be able to hit the line. 

HORSE PROFILE

MY ideal Galway Plate ride would be a horse who is fringe-Graded class, preferably a second season chaser and with the speed to be competitive at two miles, but one that stays two and a half well.

They need stamina, but a high cruising speed and the ability to jump at pace is more important.

When I won it with Oslot in 2008 he barely got the trip but his ability to jump and travel at speed meant we established a winning advantage despite struggling up the hill.

Course form is an advantage but not essential. As long your horse is well balanced you should be good to go. 

Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.sportingexcitement.com/horse-racing/magical-wins-back-to-back-group-1-tattersalls-gold-cups-in-a-curragh-stroll-for-aidan-obrien

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