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/ Timeform / 23 July 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Dermot Weld has been the leading trainer at the festival an incredible twenty-six times.
"He [Weld] has sent out ten winners at the meeting on five occasions and last year was his best yet, with eleven winners in total and a strike-rate of 33%."
The week-long Galway Festival, which kicks off on Monday, is the summer highlight of the Irish racing calendar, featuring a marathon mix of Flat and jumps action. Timeform look over the highlights...
The main races of the meeting are Wednesday's Galway Plate and Thursday's Galway Hurdle. Both can usually be described as fiercely competitive handicaps, but the latter has a standout at the weights in the shape of The Real Article, who was beaten narrowly by Captain Cee Bee under very tender handling in a Grade 3 at Tipperary last weekend and will be running off a mark 18 lb higher in future handicaps.
The stewards accepted the explanations of connections on the day but the Turf Club later announced that the case is to be reviewed on Monday. If a sanction is imposed which prevents The Real Article from taking part, Action Master will be well worth considering as an alternative selection. A quirky but strong-travelling gelding, who was successful on the Flat last time, he hasn't been hit too hard for his defeat of a much higher rated rival when last seen over hurdles in May.
The Plate is a far more open-looking affair; ante-post favourite, Bahrain Storm, still needs a couple to come out, but looks to have plenty in his favour. First and second in the last two renewals of the Galway Hurdle, he's also a winner on the Flat at the meeting and is completely unexposed over fences after just four starts. He jumps soundly and the two-mile-six-furlong trip is highly unlikely to pose him any problems.
Dermot Weld has been the leading trainer at the festival an incredible twenty-six times. He has sent out ten winners at the meeting on five occasions and last year was his best yet, with eleven winners in total and a strike-rate of 33%. Weld does particularly well in maidens there and, incredibly, won six out of the seven races of that type over the first three days in 2010.
An inside draw is usually an advantage over seven furlongs, and unless the leaders go very hard it can be difficult for those drawn wide, which is something to bear in mind for the two-year-old maiden for colts and geldings over that trip on Monday and the equivalent race for fillies the following day. These contests have gone to either Weld or Aidan O'Brien in each of the last five years and the pair both have at least two options in each race.
Weld is seeking a fourth successive winner in the maiden for three-year-olds over the same trip which closes Tuesday's card and Catch The Eye looks a very strong contender for him, having been outstayed over a mile when runner-up to the smart Claiomh Solais at Naas when last seen in May.
The most valuable race on the Monday is a handicap on the Flat for amateur riders over two miles. It's not open to three-year-olds, so won't feature much in the way of progressive sorts, and one that should give a good account is Cry For The Moon, who won at Navan in June and was arguably unlucky not to follow up at the Curragh later in the month when the rider dropped the whip after setting him a lot to do.
Three-year-olds get their turn in the penultimate race, a handicap over a mile and a half. Weld's runaway Sligo maiden winner Celebrity Sevi is likely to be a popular choice but has top weight and a more interesting proposition looks to be Gentleman Duke, who shaped for all the world as if this trip would suit when a staying-on second over eleven furlongs at Killarney last time.
Finally, few festivals pass in Ireland without Willie Mullins getting in on the act and he's got a strong contender for the two mile handicap on the Tuesday in Dorset Square, a useful hurdler who is chasing a hat-trick on the level and looks capable of defying a 6 lb rise for getting up close home at Killarney.
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