In a remarkable turn of events in Ireland’s “amateur Derby”, English businessman and amateur jockey, David Dunsdon, rode his own horse, Sirius, to an astounding victory on the inaugural day of the Galway festival. Notwithstanding being an amateur, Dunsdon, who manages a property business, exemplified exceptional professionalism in the €110,000 Connacht Hotel Handicap.
Tenaciously steering the Willie Mullins-trained underdog from the last of places to the front, in stiff competition, the 41-year-old surpassed an audacious attempt by Baltic Bird who had led most of the race. Despite suffering a tragic setback on losing Sionnach Eile due to injuries, the race turned out to be a milestone for the successful jockey as this was his first win after a dry spell of five years, more surprisingly on a horse he was unfamiliar with.
When reflecting upon his success, Dunsdon graciously referred to Mark Cavendish, the cyclist, as his driving force behind his resurgence in 2023, following a four-year hiatus. Prior to his return, he had requested Mullins to help him land a successful horse for a race which is fondly remembered for its previous “GPT” sponsorship. His triumphant comeback concluded with the jockey-businessman relishing the victory, which he equated to the prestigious Melbourne Cup for amateurs.
“I had not ridden for four years. I started a family, came out of retirement and this was the dream,” revealed a delighted Dunsdon, who put Mullins on a pedestal, drawing analogy to “the Jeff Bezos of racing”. In another analogy, he alluded to the horses trained by Mullins as being as agile as Mo Farah in the final furlong. Following the unexpected victory at 50/1 odds, the extraordinary accomplishment was endorsed by Mullins.
David requested me to find him a horse for riding in this race which was to happen a couple of years ago, in an attempt to clinch a victory. I was under the impression that David had called time on his career, however, it’s evident that he had made a comeback and ridden a few. To maintain his fitness, David exercises with Gary Moore.
David, a man obsessed with his fitness levels hadn’t ridden this particular horse before even though that was originally planned. A few years ago, David was acclaimed as the champion Fegentri rider, signifying his triumph as an amateur European champion rider, as Mullins confirmed.
For Mullins, this victory was his fifth in this race over eight years. Mullins’ son Patrick, renowned as the most successful amateur in the history of the sport, needed as many as 16 attempts to bag his precious victory.
Distressingly, the casualty list on Monday evening was not limited to Sionnach Eile. A seven-time winner, the Golden Sandbanks slipped just before the penultimate flight in a hurdle taken by Son Of Hypnos in which it tripped The Banger Doyle. Sadly, Golden Sandbanks incurred fatal injuries.
Impressively named Rock Of Cashel, the recently trained two-year-old by Aidan O’Brien was declared the winner of the Galway festival having excelled in the two-year-old maiden. Interestingly enough, in 2003, there was another horse with the same name, also trained by O’Brien, that managed a runners-up finish, lagging a striking 10 lengths behind Grey Swallow, the horse that subsequently clinched the Irish Derby the very next year.
Dermot Weld, Grey Swallow’s trainer, was highly anticipated to repeat this success courtesy of the 13/8 favourite, Truth Be Told. However, the horse had a slow start and didn’t seem completely at ease around the Ballybrit circuit.
A spokesman from Ballydoyle said regarding the winner, “He’s still immature somewhat, but he is developing into a wonderful horse. We are considering something like the Futurity for him, amongst other attractive races.”
On a winning note, Jack Davison from Co Meath scored his first Galway festival win via Artful Approach which bagged the first flat handicap of the week at 7/1. Charles Byrnes, well acquainted with festival victories, saw his hopeful Delta Force, ridden by jockey Ray Barron (2023 big race winner), seize a late victory in the bumper via a gamble.
With an impressive display in the novice hurdle, former dental practitioner turned racing trainer Richard O’Brien led the thoroughbred Feud to victory in the week’s initial race. The horse, a half-sibling to the winner of May’s Irish Guineas, Fallen Angel, was too powerful for Mordor during the final stages of the race.
The festival marking the official start of Galway’s racing season saw a slight increase in attendees, with a crowd of 17,074 compared to last year’s 16,718. Michael Moloney, the track manager, viewed this as a notably encouraging outcome, especially considering Galway’s recent defeat in the All-Ireland football final.
He commented, “Following their defeat two years ago, we saw a drop of 5,000 in attendance so given the circumstances of the football match, this is a very pleasing result.”