Festival history could be in the making on Thursday when Tudor City bids to become the first horse to win the Guinness Galway Hurdle three times.
The Tony Martin-trained star first landed the historic €270,000 ‘Ladies Day’ highlight in 2019 and managed the feat again last year when becoming the first 10-year-old to win it in 75 years.
Jockey Liam McKenna steered him to his improbable success at odds of 22-1 and claims 5lbs again, with Tudor City sneaking in at the bottom of the 20 runners off the same official handicap mark as last year.
Martin’s mastery of the handicap is underlined both by that feat and bringing Tudor City back for a fifth crack at the race in winning form from the flat at the Curragh over Irish Derby weekend.
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That was a ninth career win in 72 starts for the stalwart performer who is the oldest horse in Thursday’s highlight by a single day over the other 11-year-old lining up, Cash Back.
Drying ground conditions are in Tudor City’s favour too for a race that’s always one of the most ferociously contested handicaps of the year.
The three horses that chased him home a year ago, Jesse Evans, Prairie Dancer and Glan, renew rivalry after the latter got in as a reserve on Wednesday after Magic Tricks’ defection.
It keeps Gordon Elliott’s representation in the race at four runners as he chases an elusive first success.
In contrast Willie Mullins holds a record five victories and he also has a quartet of contenders including the potential ‘blot’ on the handicap, Zarak The Brave.
He can boast Grade One placed form at the highest juvenile level last season but concedes crucial experience.
Zarak The Brave is the sole four-year-old in the race and perhaps the most quoted pre-race statistic will be how no horse of that age group has won the Galway Hurdle since Perugino Diamond in 2000.
Quantifying what Zarak The Brave might have in hand of the handicapper compared to a tried and tested proposition such as Tudor City could dominate betting considerations but might open up value elsewhere.
The JP McManus pair Filey Bay and Brazil also figure towards the top of betting lists as does the apparent Elliott first-string Party Central.
Last year’s outcome was a reminder of the race’s capacity to throw up a big-priced winner though and one that might fit the bill this time is Mighty Tom.
A course and distance winner back in 2020, the eight-year-old has looked a rejuvenated character in two starts for Meath-based trainer Cian Collins. He belied big odds with a fine third to Seddon at the Punchestown festival and subsequently sluiced up at Killarney by 10 lengths.
It prompted an 11lb hike in the ratings and his late run style will require luck although Denis O’Regan – a winner on Quick Jack in 2015 – is the ideal rider in such circumstances.
Da Capo Glory might also go well at big odds for Cork trainer Padraig Butler but even those without a cent on Tudor City are likely to be keeping half an eye out for the history seeker.
The Day Four festival feature is an all-domestic affair, but the English runner Dandy Alys is officially top-rated for the afternoon’s main flat race, the Listed Corrib Stakes.
Ralph Beckett has engaged champion jockey Colin Keane for a filly that began her season running in the French 1,000 Guineas.
Runner-up last time at Carlisle, the raider’s main threat could prove to be Keep In Touch.
Dermot Weld’s hope won her maiden here last September and is taking a significant drop in trip after a pair of runs in Oaks trials.
Weld is unsurprisingly applying a first-time visor and his big-race victory with Coeur D’Or on Tuesday was an encouraging fillip.
Willie Mullins runs three in a hot-looking novice hurdle with What Path the apparent No 1 hope. It will be intriguing though to see Encanto Bruno stepped up in grade after strolling to a maiden success at Bellewstown last time.
Ben Harvey takes a valuable 3lbs off John McConnell’s ultra-promising youngster who could prove hard to beat on decent ground conditions.
