This year’s Galway Plate looks a potentially high-class affair with a number of graded winners set to line up. I personally would like nothing more than to see Samcro cruise round in second gear and saunter clear after the last. He’s become just a bit unreliable though and for all he’s clearly an extremely talented horse on his day, he’s far too unpredictable.
The Shunter was one of the stories of last season, winning races at Downpatrick, Punchestown, Kelso and Cheltenham, before tasting Festival success in the Paddy Power Plate. He clearly possesses quite the engine but will have to cope with a career high mark of 152 and he can make the odd jumping blunder. JP will launch his usual assault and of his others I thought Top Moon looked interesting for trainer Joseph O’Brien. He’s long been a horse plenty thought capable of landing one of these big handicaps and he nearly did so over Christmas at Leopardstown. He warmed up for this with a smooth success at Wexford and should enjoy the quick conditions underfoot. With a good course second in the book, we know he likes Galway, I would just wonder how much more improvement there is to come off a mark just 3lbs off his career best.
Willie Mullins always has a strong hand in these valuable handicaps and this year is no exception. Last year’s runner up Royal Rendezvous warmed up for this with an effortless success at Ballinrobe. He could be a big player off a 7lb higher mark, but I prefer the chances of his stablemate Koshari 12/1. Predominately seen as a hurdler for the Closutton maestro, Koshari looks a fascinating runner off a 10lb lower chase mark. Officially rated 150 over hurdles, he flew home to land a big pot at Punchestown, beating the likes of Ciel De Neige and The Shunter. He raced off level weights with The Shunter that day and will receive 12lbs this time around. Now chasing and hurdling are clearly different arts, and it would be dangerous to take that form too literally now the pair meet over fences. Koshari is however extremely unexposed over fences with just the six starts and none since he was sixteenth in this race back in 2018. His hurdles form would suggest he’s a far better horse now and I’m willing to take the chance he can convert his hurdles form to fences.
By Sam Rideout
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