Galianna preferred in feature

PUNTERS APPROACHING the marathon extravaganza that is Galway 2010 are likely to yet again place their faith in the Ballybrit maestro Dermot Weld but no trainer is coming into the festival in better form than Pat Flynn who can pick up the day-one feature with Galianna.

Flynn won the €75,000 Carlton.ie/Galwaycity QR Handicap in 1994 with Onomatopeia when it was known as the GPT. But it’s doubtful if the Co Waterford trainer, who has won most of the festival highlights in the past, including last year’s Guinness Hurdle with Bahrain Storm, has ever come into Galway on such a hot streak.

Five of his last 20 runners have been successful and while Galianna hasn’t been seen since May, she does already hold a unique place in her trainer’s affections.

That last start at Clonmel yielded Galianna a fourth victory but it was number 600 of Flynn’s career and the daughter of Galileo was so impressive in handing out a 10-length drubbing to one of this evening’s opponents, Admiral Barry, that she now races for the first time in the colours of JP McManus.

She will be ridden by Pádraig Roche, the son of the former champion flat jockey Christy Roche who enjoyed so much success around this famous track. Roche Jnr managed to win a hurdle race at last year’s festival and with Galianna looking to have a good racing weight, plus the ground drying out all the time, the Flynn runner looks to have a lot going for her.

Tonight’s 20-runner feature was the race that lit Dermot Weld’s torch for Galway when he won it as a 15-year-old amateur jockey in 1964 on Ticonderoga. The legendary trainer is attempting a four-in-a-row with his representative Sublime Talent who fought his way to a narrow success at the Curragh on Irish Oaks day.

He hardly fits the profile of a progressive type with plenty still to come but the fact that Weld relies on Sublime Talent will guarantee him support.

Jessica Harrington is represented by three runners while Nina Carberry’s followers will be taking note of Cloone Rocket. The 2006 winner P’tit Fute is back for another crack at the big amateur prize but preference is for Galianna.

If there is an article of Galway faith it is that ignoring the Weld runner in the seven-furlong juvenile maiden is a mighty dangerous tactic. Since Klairvimy won it in 1972, Weld has dominated the race and is looking for a remarkable 20th success in it this evening.

His representative is A Word Apart, a half-brother to the Group One-winning Casual Conquest, who not surprisingly found the six furlongs of his Curragh debut on the short side when runner-up to Sydney Harbour in an eventful maiden on Derby day.

This will be no “gimme” for the Weld runner though as Aidan O’Brien throws two into the pot, including Robin Hood on whom O’Brien’s teenage son, Joseph, takes off a valuable 7lb.

Robin Hood ran an eye-catching debut behind his stable companion Roderic O’Connor at the Curragh and was a hot favourite on his return to HQ only to run into a potentially very good horse in Pathfork.

Strictly on the book Robin Hood has ground to make up on Tashqeel but with two runs under his belt, he could be the one to halt the Weld bandwagon.

Weld had eight festival winners last year, and has hit the 10-winner mark on multiple occasions in the past, but he might have to wait until this evening’s finale to hit the bulls-eye with Fort Defiance in the bumper.

The four-year-old was a heavy odds-on favourite on his debut at Naas in March only to run up against the smart Double Double. Another of today’s runners, Maytide, was only a length off Double Double on his own debut in May at Leopardstown while Willie Mullins’s Apt Manor has a first run since finishing second at last year’s festival.

However, Fort Defiance is likely to be primed for this and jockey Robbie McNamara is hugely effective around the trappy course.

Paul Townened is an evens favourite with William Hill to finish the week as the leading National Hunt jockey and his presence on Fearnwood Girl in the handicap hurdle looks significant.