Galway Races, Thursday 30 July, Stats and Tips

Stats and selections for Galway Races on Thursday 30 July 2026

The feature race is the €270,000 Guinness Galway Hurdle at 16:30

Click on this link for a stats-based preview of the big race.

Galway selections for Thursday 30 July:

14:10 Seven Nation Army – 14:45 Meriden – 15:20 Soir de Garde – 15:55 Roc Dino (nb) – 16:30 Puturhandstogether (nap) – 17:05 Merlin The Wizard -17:40 Autumn Twist – 18:12 Market Square

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14:10 – Guinness Irish EBF Nursery Handicap, 2yo, 7f, €18,000

This race has been run on nine occasions

Eight of the last nine winners were drawn stall six or lower

No winner in the last nine years was returned at bigger than 8/1, with seven of the last nine winners being returned at 10/3 or shorter

Six geldings, three fillies and one colt have won this race in the last ten years

Nine of the last ten winners had never previously run in handicap previously

Selection – With only eight runners, four runners are positives on the stats, which are Seven Nation Army, Margot Mae, Bold Commander and Celtic Moon. Only Seven Nation Army has been tried in a handicap. Like last year’s winner, Which Wolf Wins, is trained by Joseph O’Brien. We’ll side with him.

14:45 – Arthur Guinness Irish EBF Corrib Fillies’ Stakes, Listed Race, 3yo+. 7f, €52,500

There have been two winning favourites in the last ten years plus one joint-favourite, but the last winning market-leader was in 2020

Last year’s winner was returned at 40/1, with the 2024 winner being 16/1; in 2023 the winner was, 12/1, in 2022, 10/1 and in 2021, 11/1

In the five years preceding these, no winner was returned at bigger than 4/1

The winning stall numbers in the last ten years (most-recent first): 15, 5, 2, 4, 2, 4, 1, 1, 10 and 5

This means that eight of the last ten winners were drawn in stall five or lower

Selection – With a good draw (stall two), Meriden is taken to land a remarkable sixth win a row.

15:20 – Guinness Open Gate Brewery Novice Chase, Grade 3, 4yo+, 2m2f54y, €42,000

Willie Mullins has trained five of the last nine winners and finished second in 2024, when he didn’t have the winner, those wins coming every other year – 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 and 2025

Paul Townend has ridden three of the last nine winners

Trainer Jessica Harrington has won two of the last six, in 2020 and 2024, and she didn’t have a runner last year or 2022 or 2023

There have three winning favourites plus one joint-favourite in the last ten years

Selection – Based on the stats, it has to be Soir de Garde for trainer Willie Mullins, even though it will break the sequence of him winning the race recently in every other year

15:55 – Guinness Novice Hurdle, 4yo+, 2m4f156y, €22,000

Trainer Ross O’Sullivan has won this race for the last two years; he runs Rosie’s Wings today

Willie Mullins has won five of the last ten

There have been three wining favourites in the last ten years, all of them trained by Willie Mullins

Six of the last ten winners were returned at 11/2 or shorter

Only two of the last ten winners were returned at bigger than 10/1 (11/1 and 12/1)

Five of the last ten winners were 5yos, with four of the last eight being aged six

Selection – The overnight betting makes it a two-horse race between Henry de Bromhead’s Midnight Jet and Willie Mullins’ Roc Dino. The stats lead us to the latter.

Pic – Paul Townend and Willie Mullins could be set for a good day at Galway on Thursday

16:30 – Guinness Galway Hurdle Handicap, Grade 3, 4yo+, €270,000

Click here for the full preview (which was posted to this site earlier in the week)

Selection – Puturhandstogether

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17:05 – Rockshore Refreshingly Irish Handicap, 4yo+, 8f198y, €20,000

Trainer Gerry Keane has won this twice in the last three years, but he has no runner today

There has been no winning favourite in the last ten years

Four of the last ten winners were returned at 10/1 or bigger

Six of the last ten winners were returned at 7/1 or shorter

Only one of the last ten winners carried less-than 9st to victory

The winning stall numbers in the last ten years are 5, 10, 7, 11, 13, 6, 4, 10, 14 and 5

Selection – Ross O’Sullivan’s Follow Me looks to hold a chance, alhough he is drawn in 16. Ado McGuinness’s horses have been running well this week so Exquisite Acclaim and No More Porter have to be respected. However, Ray Cody’s Merlin The Wizard (7/1 overnight), despite having been allotted stall 14, covers a number of stats so will get the nod.

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17:40 – Guinness 0.0 Handicap, 3yo+, 12f, €17,000

Dylan Browne McMonagle has ridden two of the last three winners

The last ten winning stall numbers are 8, 1, 2, 1, 20, 1, 18, 9, 3, and 14

This means that six of the last nine winners were drawn nine or lower

Only one winner in the last ten carried less than 9st to victory, which came last year

There have been two winning favourites in the last six years (two in the last ten, too)

Five of the last ten winners were returned at 8/1 or shorter, but winners’ SPs have also been 25/1 (twice), 40/1 and 33/1 in the last eight years

Selection – Rodeo Blues and Arch Enemy, who are both seeking a third-straight win, tick plenty of boxes. Faro Island is lightly raced and should have better to come, but Autumn Twist‘s stable is in good form and he’s on an interesting mark so we’ll side with him.

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18:12: Guinness Time INH Flat Race, 4yo+, €17,000, 2m2f

Trainer Willie Mullins has won two of the last four; both were returned as the favourite

This said, Willie had the favourite last year (finished third), in 2024 (finished 4^th), in 2021 (fifth), and 2020 (second)

There have three winning favourites in the last seven years

Five of the last ten winners were returned at 11/4 or shorter

The last ten winners were all aged five

Selection – Willie Mullins has to be the starting point here, so his newcomer Run Ted Run has to be afforded respect. However, closely related to Cork National winner, and Aintree Grand National third, Vics Canvas, Market Square showed promise at Punchestown in May and, in the colours of the Mee family, who have enjoyed plenty of success at Galway, he looks set to go well. We’ll side with him.