The exotically named P'tit Fute came to the bookmakers' rescue on the opening day of the Galway festival with a wide-margin success in the GPT Handicap that finally managed to bring the Dermot Weld bandwagon to some sort of temporary halt.
Weld, the legendary master of Ballybrit, and an unbackable 1 to 10 to yet again be the festival's leading trainer before racing even began, made those odds look almost generous when he enjoyed his best start to Galway week with the first three winners.
The bookies were scurrying for cover after the favourites Fleeting Shadow and Summer Soul, and the joint market leader Zeroberto, all won, while the later third placing of Weld's only other runner, Glitter Baby, was greeted with huge relief in the ring.
Even for someone who has had five winners in a day at the festival in the past, and notched up 10 winners for the week on four occasions in the last decade, it was pretty heady stuff.
But Weld was quick to cut off any presumptions about the rest of the week, despite now being 1 to 16 to pick up the leading trainer gong.
"It's a good start but there's a long way to go. It gets harder," he said. "I have a team of fast-ground horses here and the going is riding on the soft side."
Weld's jockey, Pat Smullen, described the surface as "slower than yielding", but it made no difference as Fleeting Shadow especially looked a star of the future by making most of the running in the seven furlong maiden.
It was Weld's 17th win in the race, and considering this was the same event that kicked off Grey Swallow's winning career in 2003, the trainer's enthusiasm is significant.
"He's got a lot of natural talent and a lot of pace, but he is so idle, and stays so well, that that can be disguised," he said. "The Futurity over seven is a logical next step, but I could bring him back to six for the Phoenix Stakes instead.
"I was quite confident he'd win, because he had come on for his first run."
Zeroberto's next target is more immediate, and Weld hopes a penalty for defying top-weight in the handicap hurdle will get him into Thursday's Galway Hurdle. Ansar did the double in 2001, and William Hill reacted by slashing Zeroberto's odds to 5 to 1, just behind his stable companion, Kinger Rocks (9 to 2.)
"We won this race with Ansar and then the hurdle. Now we just have to find a jockey," said the trainer, who had earlier also legged Ruby Walsh on to Summer Soul who battled to a narrow defeat of Serve Time in the novice hurdle.
"I think there's a very good flat handicap in this horse, maybe even an English Cesarewitch," hinted Weld.
Weld said taking Kinger Rocks out of the GPT was a tough decision, but he was vindicated as P'tit Fute destroyed the opposition in what is usually an ultra-competitive handicap.
The 21-year-old amateur James O'Farrell, son of trainer Seamus O'Farrell, kicked coming out of the dip, and the ex-French P'tit Fute had the race won in 100 yards for trainer Francis Flood and owner, New York publican John Mahon. It was a 27th career victory for the jockey who will ride Proud To Be Irish for his father in Thursday's big hurdle.
"Once he got to the front I knew we'd win because he stays so well," said O'Farrell. Flood nominated a two mile and five furlong hurdle here on Saturday as a likely target for P'tit Fute.
Kieren Fallon reportedly missed a flight out of Turkey after riding there on Sunday, and Seamus Heffernan stepped in for the winning ride on Raspberry Beret in the seven furlong handicap. Glaczer Flyer was too good for Off The Mark in the bumper.
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