In the Galway festival’s €120,000 highlight on Tuesday evening, Joseph O’Brien made a major breakthrough when his horse, Mexicali Rose, won the revered Colm Quinn BMW Mile at 12/1 odds. Marked as No. 13 in the event, the victory was testament to O’Brien trumping both his father Aidan and brother Donnacha. Though notable names adorn the roll-of-honour for this celebrated handicap, the O’Brien racing clan had been conspicuously absent until now.
During Tuesday’s events, Aidan O’Brien elsewhere focused on the Goodwood Cup where his horse, Kyprios, won – meanwhile, his horse in Galway, Old Faithful, was second last. His sons had unsuccessful attempts to claim victory during their brief yet illustrious jockeying careers. The win at Galway was secured by apprentice rider Wayne Hassett on Mexicali Rose, beating Norwalk Havoc by half a length, with This Songisforyou securing third position, followed by the previous year’s victor, Coeur D’or.
Formerly trained by Ralph Beckett, Mexicali Rose was sold in December for £42,000. Despite a slow start and an increase in her official rating, this did not prevent her from taking home one of the season’s most sought-after handicaps. Jockey, Hassett praised the horse for her resilience and pace, hinting that there may be better yet to come. This represents the second ex-Beckett trained horse win of the week, after Feud’s triumph in Monday’s opening race.
The racing action on Tuesday had a strong international touch, with two Irish trainers based in Yorkshire celebrating victories. Richard Fahey’s charge Reidh narrowly claimed the flat handicap, just necking out rivals, while Gale Mahler triumphed on the Listed novice hurdle by a clear margin of 10 lengths. Gale Mahler’s performance was especially noteworthy to her world-class trainer, Adrian Keatley, who although now resides in Malton, has fond memories of success in Galway, dubbing Gale Mahler his most remarkable win at the racecourse.
Rachael Blackmore shined in the first chalked chase of the week riding Thecompanysergeant to victory, typifying one of the four favoured winners on the card. Monday’s tally, in comparison, saw just one market leader triumphant.
Among Tuesday’s line-up was Bubbling, guided by Aidan O’Brien, the festival’s second juvenile maiden victor of the week at Ballybrit, putting forth an effervescent performance winning by five lengths. This followed Rock Of Cashel’s victorious maiden run on Monday.
After Kyrpios’ record-breaking success at Goodwood, O’Brien was decidedly pleased and somewhat unyielding in his response. Kyrpios, the top-rated global stayer who initiated his career at Galway in 2020, clinched his second Goodwood Cup on Tuesday, setting another course record alongside jockey Ryan Moore.
O’Brien reflected on Kyrpios’ past injury and his triumphant return to the Ascot Gold Cup last month, indicating the Gold Cup’s significance and plans to prepare him for an Irish St Leger repeat. This came before hitting back at critics regarding ground conditions for Auguste Rodin’s defeat at King George at Ascot the previous Saturday, sticking to his claim that the track was too soft and paced prematurely by Rodin’s stablemates.
“Looking back, I certainly botched it up and I’m not shy to admit it,” he confessed. “Auguste Rodin is a premier, sophisticated horse – he’s never had to scrap on the streets; he oozes quality.
“In the contest, he found himself stuck in the interior on unfavourable terrain. We’re aware of his capabilities – he’s a horse fit for a mile and a quarter, yet can stretch to a mile and a half, but he’s not built for endurance races.
“As for why that happened, my theory is that we set a robust velocity – we always intended to do that. The course was adequately moist and sandy, making it slower than anticipated.”
The Galway festival on Tuesday saw an attendance of 13,680. Although this number was lower than the opening day, which saw 17,074 attendees, it was a slight improvement on the same day the previous year, when the crowd numbered 13,506.