GALWAY DAY FOUR REPORT: A PUBLIC plunge on the hot favourite Deutschland was foiled in yesterday's €250,000 Guinness Galway Hurdle as the 20 to 1 outsider Bahrain Storm left those popular dreams for dust up the famous Ballybrit hill.
The 22-year-old Dundalk-born jockey Stephen Gray made the most of a once-in-lifetime opportunity to win on a horse discarded by Davy Russell and passed the post six lengths clear of Ruby Walsh on Deutschland.
That he passed the post to a relatively muted reception was understandable enough given that Deutschland started a 15 to 8 favourite and despite those prohibitive odds was supported as if defeat was out of the question.
Considering the Willie Mullins-trained horse looked to be left slightly flat-footed at the top of the hill, Deutschland actually did well to finish as close as he did and also avoided a final flight melee that saw both Fosters Cross and Cuan Na Grai come down.
Russell came home fifth on Time Electric and no doubt was left to wonder about what might have been considering he rode Bahrain Storm to win at Cork earlier in the month.
“He got off the horse in Mallow and just said ‘sheer class’ so I couldn’t believe he didn’t want to ride him,” said Bahrain Storm’s trainer Pat Flynn.
“He felt the horse had too much weight so I decided to claim and Stephen has been riding out for me – a good horse makes a good jockey.”
It was a 27th career victory for Gray, a 5lb claimer, who said: “I never thought I would ride in a race like this, never mind win it!”
He added: “Pat told me to go down the inner but it was a little rough there so I switched him off a place and we got a dream run.”
It is such quick decisions that win races and also increase a young jockey’s profile, although it is a rising star of the flat game, apprentice Gary Carroll, who is booked to ride Bahrain Storm in the final race here tomorrow evening.
“It might look a bit greedy but I think he will run. We brought everything for him, his pyjamas and all the rest, so why not?” joked Flynn, whose Galway pedigree includes Salmon Eile in the 1992 McDonogh Handicap.
“He’s a super horse who is in super form. He had a canter at six o’clock this morning because I thought he looked a bit stuffy and everything went perfect in the race, ” the Co Waterford trainer added.
Willie Mullins put Deutschland’s defeat down to the horse’s jumping: “He doesn’t jump hurdles well enough, which is why he has the handicap mark he has in the first place,” he explained. “If you look at the race again Ruby jumps off in about fifth and after jumping the first he is back to 11th or 12th. He kept having to ask him to get back into a position. You can’t do that in a Galway Hurdle.”
After yesterday’s result another rule might be that backing very short-priced favourites can damage your financial health.
In wonderful summer weather there was a blast of the Celtic Tiger past on Ladies Day at Galway with a bumper attendance of 42,415 yesterday. That was almost 3,800 down on last year’s figure but course manager John Moloney said: “Without the 2,500 we had last year in corporate hospitality we are practically on a par with 2008.”
Crowd figures on the first three days of the festival were down substantially more, with the Tuesday attendance dropping by almost 30 per cent on 2008. Bookmaker turnover held up relatively well with yesterday’s tally of €3,123,041 down just over €400,000 from €3,533,819. Yesterday’s Tote turnover of €1,376,845 was down from last year’s €1,768,253.
