Teenage hero rides to triumph in the Galway Plate

It was a bad day for the Connacht rugby team, for which an expected victory did not materialise. But the famously depressed fields of Athenry were finally elevated last night after a teenage hero from that town, Danny Gilligan (17), rode Ash Tree Meadow to triumph in the Galway Plate.

He had already won a race here earlier in the week. That was nothing compared with this, however. In both glory and prize-money – the latter a handsome percentage of the €159,300 first prize – the Plate marked by far the biggest success of his fledgling career.

Not that the race was without mixed feelings for the jockey’s proud parents, who also had their own horse entered (which their proud son wisely wasn’t riding).

Natalie Gilligan, from Cardiff and speaking with a Welsh accent as yet uncontaminated by married life in east Galway, said she started cheering for Danny only when she realised “my horse wasn’t going to win”.

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There was no such conflict for sisters Lauren, Nicola and Jessica Keary, schoolmates of the jockey at Athenry’s Clarin College. Like the rest of the town, apparently, they had all backed Ash Tree Meadow (who started second favourite at 13/2).

Jessica had “only a euro” on it, but Lauren, the big gambler of the group, had plunged “2.50 each way”. Not that the money mattered as much as the excitement and of course as the long-needed morale boost for Athenry. “The town will be absolutely buzzing tonight,” said Jessica.

The potential big story of the feature race beforehand was a possible repeat win by last year’s hero Hewick, a horse bought for €850 (only slightly more than a room in some Galway hotels this week).

Had he won again, predicted the racecourse manager, the crowd would have “blown the roof off the stand”. In the event, like many in Galway, Hewick got stuck in traffic and finished 14th. Meanwhile, the Kearys and Ash Tree Meadow’s many other supporters did their best to raise the roof anyway.

There had been a false start to the big race. Then there was an ominous start to the restart when a horse called Andy Dufresne, named after the hero in The Shawshank Redemption, made a successful escape attempt from his jockey at the first fence. Happily, both were unhurt.

One of the day’s other big disappointments was the failure of a horse called Up and Under, owned by a Connacht rugby syndicate, to win the awkwardly titled The Tote.ie Never Beaten by SP (Q.R.) Maiden.

Connacht famously play their home teams in a greyhound stadium, so owning a horse is a step up. And this race looked like a doddle for Up and Under, which had finished fifth in the Curragh Derby last month.

It started a hot favourite, before being beaten narrowly by a 66-1 dark horse, Minella Mate. Like an imperfectly executed box-kick, with more height than depth, Up and Under arrived at the finishing post a bit later than ideal, and although closing fast by then, couldn’t catch the winner.

For Connacht scrum-half Caolan Blade, who has launched a few up and unders himself in his time, the disappointment was worse for being on home ground. “I’m from Galway, so it wasn’t about the prize money or the betting. It would just have been nice to win here. It was a decent run, but yes a bit disappointing.”

Minella Mate should not have been the no-hope his odds suggested. Owned by John Nallen of the Minella Hotel in Clonmel, he carried a famous prefix that in 2021 – with two different horses – won both the English Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

With another Galway Plate settled, attention now turns to Thursday’s big race, the Galway Hurdle. But for many, the main event will be Ladies Day, a competition for which specialists plan months in advance.

With another overcast day expected, and a rainy week behind, conditions could be tricky for heel wearers. As for the prospective winning outfit (which will earn the wearer €10,000) brand ambassador and fashion expert Clare Kelly predicts that “colour” could be the big thing this year.

To the uninitiated, this sounds like predicting a horse will win the Hurdle. But after the pandemic years put such a damper on events, the forecast seems to be that the future is again flamboyant.