Straight forward for Hubrisko in opener

Island strikes for Lanigan

We didn’t have him when he won on the Flat here last year but it was good to know he handled the track. The bit of ease in the ground was a help to him and he’s a nice horse going forward.

Darver plays Starring role at Galway

I’m delighted with that performance giving away weight. He made it look simple!. He’s able to get into his comfort zone over a longer trip and a little bit of juice (in the ground) is probably no harm. He wouldn’t want deep winter ground but that’s great. I’m sure the handicapper is going to reassess him after today and we might have to look outside these condition races. I wouldn’t completely rule out going back over fences but for the moment we’ll stay at what we’re at.

O'Callaghan steps in for winning ride on Oskar

It’s great to get a Galway winner. Robbie (Geoghegan) that works with me was meant to ride him but his car broke down on the way. He’s a special little horse and we’ve been waiting all summer to run him. We couldn’t run him with the quick ground. I fancied the life out of him today and thought he couldn’t be beaten. He’s right down low in the handicap and is a very honest horse. He’s won five races for the boys and they’ll celebrate it. Shane gave him a great ride. He rides work for me in the Curragh sometimes and he did exactly what he was told. The little horse stays all day and will go for something similar again.

Crimson Chief follows up in great style

Lucy makes winning start over fences

She’s a nice filly and she likes it here. It’s grand to get her started off over fences and she put in a good round of jumping. Sean thinks she could be better over fences. She may go back over hurdles at Listowel for the big handicap. We’ll see how things are going with her and keep our options open. When she’s in good form she likes running every few weeks and it worked out well coming here. It’s great for Padraic (Ryan, owner) as he’s a local man and definitely enjoys Galway.

Flanagan notches chase double on Could

He took a while to find his way over jumps. We gave him a break and brought him back for the hurdle race here but he jumped one big and tore the heel off himself at the festival. We patched it up and said we’d come down the chase route. The yard is in good order and he had a good handicap mark compared to his hurdle mark. He’s not the fastest horse in the world and maybe he could come back for the Blazers here next year.

Notkeepinyagoing looks well bought after bumper win