Bleahen makes local appeal

In Focus/Lord Of The Turf: Brian O'Connor talks to a small operator ahead of his big festival day.

It's 84 years since a horse trained in Galway has won the Galway Plate but any more rain that falls on Ballybrit will help Lord Of The Turf bridge the gap.

Trained in Ballinasloe by John Bleahen and owned by Frank O'Malley, a steward at the track, the winner's enclosure could be swamped in every sense of the word if the soft ground loving Lord Of The Turf wins.

It's an unexpected pressure for 36-year-old Bleahen who regards training very much as a sideline to dealing in horses and maintaining the family farm. It has also forced him into making some hard decisions already.

Barry Geraghty is Lord Of The Turf's usual rider but he couldn't commit to the horse earlier in the week and so the 21-year-old amateur Derek O'Connor was booked instead. The clouds opening had Geraghty back on the phone.

"I had to ring Derek this morning and it was a hard thing to do. He has been lucky for me in point-to-points and he won the big race on Monday.

"It's not very fair on him but that's the game we're in. Barry has ridden the horse in his last nine starts and I always said he had first call. But I don't feel good about it," Bleahen said yesterday.

Such an outlook is not unexpected from a man who spent years working on stud farms before returning home.

"Even if we win the Plate the training won't get bigger. It's too much stress. Bar the top half dozen it's not financially rewarding and it's an awful tough way of life. The phone rings non-stop, and if it doesn't you're in right trouble," he said.

"We're more a trading operation. Farming was the number one thing but farming is so bad now that the buying and selling of young horses has taken over." The battle-hardened Lord Of The Turf is the exception in the yard but his local credentials were emphasised last year when he won chases at Galway in August, September and October.

Punters have latched on to that, and Geraghty's efforts to get back on, and look sure to make Lord Of The Turf one of the market leaders.

"Realistically I don't even want to think about winning. It would be mega but I would be happy if he was in the first four. I think he is a silly price. He was 16 to 1 after he ran at Tipperary but the media hype since has made his price unrealistic," Bleahen said.

Such are the realities of dealing at the top level of the summer chasing game but while the pressure is on now, the rewards could be colossal if the right result comes.

Local horses have a good record in the Thursday highlight, the Galway Hurdle. The Plate has been a different story since Picture Saint won in 1919. There are plenty around here who will tell you the long wait is over.