Galway Festival Report:Donegal might be a racing outpost but the 25 to 1 outsider Incline belied his odds to give the county's sole racehorse trainer, Ray McGlinchey, the greatest success of his career in last night's Tote Galway Mile.
The regally bred winner, a son of Danehill out of a Sadler's Wells mare, finally secured a place in the limelight on the 47th start of his career when edging out Crooked Throw and Absolute Image in a thrilling finish to the day two festival feature.
The finish was so tight there was an anxious wait before the photo-finish result was announced but to the relief of the raucous Donegal crowd in the parade ring Incline got the nod from his 20 to 1 rival.
"If he wasn't my horse, I would have said 'yeah, we've won' but he got beat a short head here last year when I thought he'd won so this is absolutely brilliant," beamed McGlinchey, a former jump jockey who served his apprenticeship with the legendary "Darkie" Prendergast.
McGlinchey trains a dozen horses in Inver and bought the ex-Terry Mills-trained Incline for just £8,000 in Newmarket three years ago.
The horse's two wins at Sligo up to last night were the sole flat victories for the entire yard in five seasons but after scraping into the 18-strong field, Incline and jockey Davy Moran made the most of their chance.
The English raider Boledenka was plunged on in the betting to 4 to 1 favourite but secured no sort of run after being last in the early stages and instead it was Absolute Image, placed in the race for a third time, whom Incline chased down before fending off Crooked Throw.
"Watching the ballot to get into the race yesterday was awful and I would have been very disappointed not to get in. I always knew there was a big day in this horse," said McGlinchey, who has been training for six years.
"I'm up there on my own in the middle of nowhere in Donegal so this is brilliant."
Moran (24) has a number of Listed wins to his credit but the apprentice said this was the biggest pot of his career: "Fair play to the lads who own him, they said he would be in the first three."
Only six lined up for the conditions chase but it still provided a thrilling finish although the fairytale result of an Adamant Approach victory was denied when First Row got up close home to beat the veteran by half a length. The face of the race changed at the second last with Ballycullen Boy's fall and just as Adamant Approach looked like swamping Sorry Al in front, First Row put in a rousing challenge.
"You never know what can happen in these conditions races," smiled trainer Dessie Hughes. "I know he was wrong at the weights but it's all about jumping and he looked beaten the last day at Kilbeggan too before winning."
As if Incline's success wasn't enough for bookmakers, they also had another 25 to 1 winner on their sides as My Valley rallied in the closing stages to land the two-mile handicap under an impressive Shane Gorey.
Another market leader, Desert Abbey, bit the dust in the opening hurdle, although the winner Corrick Bridge was well backed, and it was only in the juvenile fillies maiden that favourite backers struck back with Campfire Glow's easy win for Dermot Weld and Pat Smullen.
"She was working well enough to just about win but I hoped she had more talent than she was showing and she does," said Weld, who could aim the winner at the Group Two Debutante Stakes in 11 days' time.
"She's also eligible for the Goffs fillies million so that looks a route to take too," added Weld.
Jockey Billy Lee, unplaced on Your Night Out in this race, picked up a six-day ban for careless riding following an incident soon after the start.
Chris Hayes also got six days for careless riding after an incident in the dip.
Smullen doubled up in the following seven-furlong handicap on board Hampshire, who made much of the running to also secure a long-priced double for My Valley's trainer, Pat Fahy.
Smullen was on another Weld favourite in the concluding maiden but Downhill Skier never travelled like a winner and eventually had to settle for a three-length second to the Pat Shanahan-ridden winner, Lonesome Maverick. Owner-trainer Donal Kinsella said: "He's been difficult enough to train but these are the important days."
Yesterday's attendance of 26,354 was down over 1,300 on last year's corresponding figure but they still produced a day two turnover record on the Tote of €1,293,347, an increase of almost €95,000 on 2006. For the second day running, bookmaker turnover was down, a total €3,052,652 meaning a decrease of €131,071 on last year. The last race produced a turnover of €475,162.