2023 Galway Races Friday Preview & Tips – DS
2023 Galway Races Friday Preview
We finally got a nice winner on the board at Galway on Thursday. Laughifyouwant capitalised on his reduced mark, landing our NAP at 16s. We bookended the day with another tasty place, Evans Secret staying on well for 5th at 40s. Let’s hope for more profit this evening, Dave Stevos’ 2023 Galway Races Friday tips are below.
5.00 – Galway Tribes Handicap Hurdle (0-140)
With Paddy O’Hanlon taking off a very valuable 5lbs, Weddell Sea could go well at a price. Trained by Andrew McNamara, this horse has solid form at both Sligo and Roscommon. As I have stated a couple of times this week, they are both good prep tracks for the Galway Races and this lad won his maiden at Roscommon by 8L (16f gd) and he was then a close 2nd in a Sligo Novice (18f gd/yld) two runs later.
O’Hanlon was on board for both those runs and he has also ridden Weddell Sea in both starts this year. On his seasonal return this son of Sea The Stars was beat 4.5l by yesterday’s (unsuccessful) plunge horse Glan. He improved on that effort last time out at Kilbeggan (19f yld), beat just 0.5L off 117. The third and fourth from that race were both beat just a length in handicap hurdles here earlier this week, and they were 12l + 18l behind respectively.
The drying ground is in Weddell Sea’s favour and while he got 3lbs for that last run, that doesn’t look insurmountable. A fast run race at 16f around Galway should suit him and the first time blinkers are an interesting addition. He won the first time he wore cheekpieces, hopefully he repeats the trick at odds of 25/1.
2023 Galway Races Friday Tips: Weddell Sea e/w @ 25/1 (5 places) NB
6.00 – Galway Blazers Handicap Chase (0-140)
The Blazers is a race that has been kind to us in the last couple of years. Let’s hope that continues. The one I’ll take a chance on at a price in this 21f chase is The Dabbler. This horse has won just two races from 32 starts but he should have won more. He has loads of ability, he just always seems to bump into one or two.
Recently he has been running over marathon trips. Last time out he was well beat in the Midlands National but that was his first run after a near three month break. It looked like a prep run for something, hopefully it was for this race. Liam Cusack’s star does stay much further than this but he’s been very competitive on his last two runs at 22f.
He ran a cracker in this race when beat just 3.75L into 4th last year off 126. He is back this year off 4lbs lower. That wasn’t his first good run at Galway. He was beat a head here off 119 in October 2021 (22f sft), his only other run over this C&D. Cusack has booked a top jockey in Sean Flanagan, hopefully he can steer The Dabbler into the money at odds of 25/1.
2023 Galway Races Friday Tips: The Dabbler e/w @ 25/1 (5 places) NAP
6.35 – Guinness Handicap (Premier)
The ground may well have turned soft by the time of this race. With 18 runners a mid to low draw is probably preferable as only two horses have managed to win from double figure draws since 2009. Vultan is right on the limit in stall 10 but his odds of 50/1 are too tempting to turn down.
He races off a mark of 83 today, 2lbs lower than he was when beat 6l into 4th behind Lord Erskine at Tramore last time out (16f yld). This horse has won just one handicap, over 12f on yielding at Roscommon back in May 2021. He has been very highly tried at times over hurdles, where he struggled, but he has generally been more consistent on the level.
He was placed off 87 and rated 91 at one stage and after four flat runs in 2023, he is now down to what looks a workable mark of 83. The tongue tie, left off last time, is back on and he was wearing it when he was a big eyecatcher under an inexperienced claimer at Leopardstown on his last 12f run. Mikey Sheehy takes over now and once the ground doesn’t turn bottomless, Vultan is capable of sneaking some place money at odds of 50/1.
2023 Galway Races Friday Tips: Vultan e/w @ 50/1 (5 places)
7.40 – Arthur Guinness Handicap (50-70)
It has been a case of close, but no cigar so far this week for Ado McGuinness. He’s had a couple of near misses but perhaps Lisieux can run big for him here. This daughter of Camacho hasn’t tasted victory since winning at Naas off 64 last October. She has been running well this season, her best effort coming at Sligo over 6f.
On her last start at 7f at Gowran off 62 she shaped as though she wanted a mile. McGuinness duly dropped her back to 5.5f at Navan on her last start and she predictably found that too sharp. On the upside, she got another pound back from the handicapper and she is in off a career low mark of 60 today.
With Adam Caffrey’s valuable 5lb claim, Lisieux is effectively racing off 55. That means she is 9lbs lower than her last win and the cheekpieces go on for the first time. McGuinness is likely to have targeted a race at this meeting with her and while her draw isn’t ideal in 14, odds of 20/1 are big enough to warrant a small e/w interest.
