Betting Masterclass: Adrian Wall’s punting guide for the 2023 Galway Festival 📚

The highly-anticipated seven-day Galway Races Summer Festival kicks off on Monday 31st July. The opening card is an evening meeting with the first of seven races taking place at 5.10pm.

Make sure you follow myracing for your expert tips and news stories throughout the week. We will endeavour to make this year’s event an enjoyable betting experience for those that are tuned in at home or on the track.

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What is the big race of the week?

The Galway Plate, a race sponsored by Tote, is run over a distance of 2m6f with a round of fourteen fences to jump in total. The last two fences have found out many a horse and can cause a lot of drama. Situated three furlongs from the winning line, they are the closest fences together of any racecourse in the world.

Worth €250,000, the race is laced with quality and throws up experienced chasers taking on emerging youngsters. The contest has thrown up some high-class recent winners including Balko Des Flos and Road To Riches, both owned by Gigginstown House Stud.

However, it will be some story if last year’s winner Hewick can come back and regain his crown. It will be one hell of an achievement if he wins the race off top weight but Shark Hanlon is confident of a big run.

Who is the trainer to follow at Galway?

It may come as no surprise but Willie Mullins is without doubt the trainer to follow at Galway. This may surprise a few but it has paid to follow him on the Flat. In the last five years at Galway, Mullins has trained 10 winners from 55 runners at the track which is a very healthy 18 per cent return.

This has culminated in a profit of +£6.22 to level stakes so if you placed £10 win on every Flat runner Mullins had at Galway since 2018 at starting price, you would have made +£60.20 in profit. Over jumps, his results are good but not quite as impressive. He has a 19 per cent return which would return -£29.32 to level stakes.

Who is the jockey to follow at Galway?

Over the jumps, top amateur rider Patrick Mullins could be worth following, especially in the bumpers. However, on the Flat, Shane Foley could be the man to follow at Galway next week. He had six winners at the track in 2021 and had a further six there in 2022. Colin Keane needs no introduction either and he rode four winners at the track last year.

There is an abundance of young talent in Ireland at present, the likes of which we have never seen before. Luke McAteer, Dylan Browne McMonagle, Sam Ewing, Joey Sheridan, and Nathan Crosse are some names to watch out for but Jamie Powell is an up and coming star and could have a couple of lovely rides there next week.

I read a fantastic piece first published in 2013 by David Jennings of the Racing Post this morning that is well worth a read. How to ride Galway by the late Pat Smullen and Barry Geraghty is a fantastic way to get some insight into how the track rides. It could give you an idea of what sort of horse you need to look out for, typically a strong travelling sort that has a good bit of stamina.

Don’t fall for the Dermot Weld trap

Dermot Weld is renowned as “The King Of Ballybrit” and rightly so after the success he has had there throughout the years. In years gone by he has farmed the place and went nearly 30 years in a row as leading trainer at the Summer Festival. However, his success has not been as pronounced in recent years. He is operating at about 15 per cent at the track since 2018.

Our advice is not to get sucked into the Weld trap at Galway next week. Yes, he may have a few winners but the majority of his horses will be drastically underpriced. Regardless of the form of the horse, it is likely to be skinny odds just due to the fact that Weld trains it. Don’t be fooled by it, if anything it will just offer better value elsewhere in the race.

Draw bias on the Flat

Galway Racecourse is shaped like a diamond and covers a distance of 1m2f. It is a sharp right-handed track with undulations and a stiff uphill quarter-mile run to the winning post. Over 7f there is a shortish run from the start to the first of two bends. This requires horses that are drawn wider to either take a pull and pray for a gap or risk losing all chance at the start by using too much energy to get to the front.

A low draw is strongly favoured over 7f at Galway in handicaps with 14 or more runners. However, from a mile up the draw isn’t as relevant and the main factor is the running style. Horses that can get to the front outperform market expectation regardless of stall position so look for horses that like to be up with the pace.

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Ground

With lots of rain on the horizon at Galway in the next few days, the ground is nearly certain to be extremely testing for the week. Let’s hope that the meeting gets the go ahead but it will be important to look for horses who enjoy the mud at Ballybrit next week. It is a stiff and testing track on a good day but soft or heavy ground will make it unbelievably testing.

If you back any of our selections you can watch them live on the free Racing Post app or racingpost.com. Simply log in to one of your bookmaker accounts and click ‘Watch live’ on the racecards.