English businessman David Dunsdon sprang a 50/1 shock in Ireland’s “amateur Derby” when riding his own horse Sirius to a spectacular success in the Galway festival’s opening day feature.
Although riding as an amateur in Ireland is often a full-time job, Dunsdon is a true Corinthian who took time away from his day job as head of a property business to give a convincing display of professional excellence in the €110,000 Connacht Hotel Handicap.
The 41-year-old rider stylishly brought the Willie Mullins-trained outsider from last to first in the ultra-competitive handicap and swept past the gallant Baltic Bird, who’d run a contrasting race by trying to make all.
If the race was marred by fatal injuries sustained by Sionnach Eile running down the hill to the straight, it was nevertheless a landmark moment for the winning jockey, who enjoyed his first winner in five years on a horse he’d never ridden.
Perceval Legallois finally lands a big handicap prize for JP McManus with Paddy Power Chase win
Our writers share their sporting highlights of the year
Leopardstown festival: Gordon Elliott and Gavin Cromwell pursue major staying handicap chase double
Leopardstown survives ‘borderline’ fog threat to finish St Stephen’s Day programme
The emotional Englishman pointed to cyclist Mark Cavendish as the inspiration for his 2023 comeback out of a four-year retirement, before which he’d asked Mullins to find him a horse to win a race still popularly known under its former “GPT” sponsorship.
The plan came to a dream conclusion as the jockey/businessman enjoyed the ultimate victory in a race he labelled a Melbourne Cup for amateurs.
“I didn’t ride for four years. I had a family, came out of retirement and this was the dream,” beamed Dunsdon who praised Mullins as “the Jeff Bezos of racing”.
He even supplied another comparison by adding: ”It’s amazing when you ride horses for Willie how fit they are - it’s like you have Mo Farah in the last furlong!”
Mullins said Dunsdon’s was an “extraordinary achievement” after the champion trainer’s rare 50/1 success.
“David asked me to look out for a horse for him to ride in this race, to try to win it, and that was two years ago. I thought David had retired in the meantime but obviously he had come back and ridden a few. He rides out with Gary Moore to stay fit.
“He actually never sat on her before, he was supposed to come over and ride her out and never did. David was champion Fegentri rider, which is European champion amateur rider, a few years back. He’s a fitness fanatic and keeps himself very fit,” Mullins said.
It was a fifth success in the race in eight years for Mullins whose son Patrick, the sport’s most successful ever amateur, took 16 goes to win it.
Unfortunately, Sionnach Eile wasn’t the only casualty on Monday evening. Seven-time winner Golden Sandbanks slipped up before the second last flight in a handicap hurdle won by Son Of Hypnos and brought down The Banger Doyle. Sadly, Golden Sandbanks sustained fatal injuries.
The latest Aidan O’Brien-trained two-year-old with the evocative name Rock Of Cashel became a Galway festival winner with a smooth success in the two-year-old maiden.
In 2003, a previous Rock Of Cashel, also trained by O’Brien, finished runner-up in the same race, all of 10 lengths behind Grey Swallow, who the following year landed the Irish Derby.
Grey Swallow’s trainer, Dermot Weld, was widely expected to win it again through the 13/8 favourite Truth Be Told only for that horse to break slowly and never look entirely comfortable around the Ballybrit circuit.
“He’s still quite babyish but he’s going to be a lovely horse in time, he’s still putting it all together,” a Ballydoyle spokesman said of the winner. “We might look at something like the Futurity for him, some of those nice races.”
Co Meath trainer Jack Davison had a first Galway festival winner through Artful Approach who landed the first flat handicap of the week at 7/1.
In contrast, Charles Byrnes is no stranger to festival success and jockey Ray Barron, who won the big race in 2023, pounced late on his gambled-on hope Delta Force in the bumper.
Former dentist turned trainer Richard O’Brien saddled the blue-blooded Feud to land the first race of the week with an impressive performance in the novice hurdle. The half-brother to May’s Irish Guineas heroine, Fallen Angel, was much too strong for Mordor in the closing stages.
♦ Galway’s official opening day festival crowd of 17,074 was up slightly on last year’s corresponding figure of 16,718. Track manager Michael Moloney described it as a particularly positive result on the back of Galway’s All-Ireland football final defeat on Sunday.
“When they lost two years ago, we lost 5,000 at the gate so considering the match it’s a really good result,” he said.
