Galway Festival: day two

Dermot Weld is always the man to follow at the Galway Festival, and this was demonstated again last night when he saddled 4 winners at the Ballybrit track. There could be more of the same today, and his Rare Ransom (Pat Smullen) looks the best bet of the evening in the 7 furlongs maiden race for 2yo fillies at 20.35 CET. She made an excellent debut when beaten only half a length by the smart Chintz 7 weeks ago and this race has been her target ever since. The Weld/ Smullen team can also take the 3yo maiden over the same trip at 21.40 with Award Ceremony, although on ratings Great Barrier Reef (Aidan O Brien/ Seamus Heffernan) looks hard to beat; however that one has been turned over at long odds-on on both his 2008 starts and appears not to have trained on. Weld has booked Ruby Walsh to ride his Noble Crusader in the 2 mile maiden hurdle at 18.10, and despite a 9 months break, this one can also go well. Most valuable race of the evening is the Galway Mile, a handicap with a maximum field of 18 which looks wide open. It could be significant that Yorkshire trainer Richard Fahey has sent over two runners here with his smart young apprentices aboard - Benandonner (Jamie Moriarty) and Bolodenka (Freddie Tylicki), whose only run this year was when he was a faller over hurdles at Aintree in April.