Alan Marron is back with his selections for Day 4 of the Galway Festival.
What an excellent days racing we had from Ballybrit on Wednesday where we managed to find the winner of the Galway Plate.
Hewick (16/1) trained by “Shark Hanlon” and ridden by Jordan Gainford was always close to the pace and jumped well throughout, kicked for home on the turn and was slightly hampered by a loose horse but managed to stay in front and increase our profit for the week.
The feature on Day 4 is the Galway Hurdle and, much like the Plate, it looks a very competitive affair with all the top stables represented.
As normal I have picked my three best bets for the day so scroll down to check them out.
Prices for today’s card at Galway can be found by clicking on this link
3.55 NAP —- NECTARIS — TRAINER JESSICA HARRINGTON — JOCKEY SHANE FOLEY (10/3)
The combination of Shane Foley and Jessica Harrington has been in excellent form in recent weeks and their runner here, Nectaris, looks to have a massive chance from the plum draw in stall one.
This filly won her maiden over course and distance, where she popped out and made all, and it wouldn’t surprise me if similar tactics were used here.
She landed a decent handicap at the Curragh on her penultimate run in Ireland before running well in a Listed race at ParisLongchamp, and then was just touched off close home in the Brownstown Stakes last time out.
She likes to get on with things up front and comments after her victory at the Curragh mentioned that she is tough and enjoyed the little ease in the ground. The conditions here should be perfect for her.
She is my NAP selection on Day Four as they might have plenty of work to do to catch her from the front.
Don’t forget this week’s PRICE BOOSTS at GALWAY and GOODWOOD…
3.20 NEXT BEST —- CRESCENT LAKE — TRAINER TERENCE O’BRIEN — JOCKEY — RORY CLEARY 12/1
My second selection of the day is Crescent Lake, who was a Dundalk all-weather winner last time out on the 12th July.
The form of that race has been extraordinary in recent days with Royal Eagle, who finished second at Dundalk, landing a hurdle on Monday, while the fourth horse, Scenic Look, came out and won last night at 33/1.
The third, War Correspondent, has been placed at Galway this week and the 6th- and 10th-placed horses from Dundalk have also come out and run well since.
Crescent Lake is dropping back in trip here but that to me looks perfect. Rory will drop in and take his time and, much like Dundalk, he will be coming home with a late run. The pace will be strong in this race so it should suit a closer.
I will be hoping to see Crescent Lake finishing late and fast and get us another winner on the board.
5.05 EACH WAY —- JESSE EVANS — TRAINER NOEL MEADE —- JOCKEY BRYAN COOPER 17/2
I am looking to land the Plate and Hurdle double and my selection here will be Jesse Evans trained by Noel Meade and ridden by Bryan Cooper.
This horse has previous form in this race, having finished fourth behind Saldier in last year’s contest. He was doing all his best work at the finish, but for me he comes into this in better form this time around.
He has been dropped a pound from last year, where he raced off 139, and if Bryan can get his jumping into a rhythm early I think he will be tough to keep out of the frame.
He had a very nice prep run for this when he finished second on the flat at Killarney behind Harry’s Legacy. That was his first run since Punchestown so there is no doubt he will improve off the back of it.
Keep an eye on the extra places in this race but he should be bang in contention turning for home.
We are paying 6 PLACES in this race – Our full list of EXTRA-PLACE races for today can be found in the picture below…
