GALWAY DAY TWO REPORT:ANYONE PUZZLED at the magic of the Galway festival only had to listen to Tony Mullins after the trainer watched his son Danny ride Rock And Roll Kid to a comprehensive success in the Day Two feature.
Rock And Roll Kid started a 6 to 1 joint favourite for the Tote Mile Handicap along with Miranda's Girl, who represented another father and son team in Thomas and Rory Cleary.
However, there was no doubt that this was going to be a Mullins evening when Rock And Roll Kid was dashed to the lead by his 17-year-old jockey coming out of the dip and they held on by two lengths over Maundy Money and Bobs Pride.
It brought to an end a frustrating series of narrow defeats in valuable handicaps for a horse who is owned by the Kilternan, Co Dublin, based businessman and amateur jockey Barry Connell, who also bred the winner.
"I trained the dam, sold her to Barry, and now to watch my son ride him to win a feature race at the Galway festival is very, very special. I would say it is probably the best moment of my life," said Mullins.
Considering he has also trained a Cheltenham festival winner for Connell in Pedrobob, ridden a legendary champion in Dawn Run, and been crowned a champion jumps jockey, that is some claim.
But Mullins has invested a lot of dreams in a horse he considers the best he has trained. "We had planned for months to go for the Lincoln because we would get heavy ground there, but that didn't work out. We didn't think it would be soft all year, though, and so we decided to try for this race.
"When you plan something for months it means a lot when it comes off. This was worth waiting for. I've been watching quite a few westerns at three in the morning recently because I've been worrying something would go wrong!" the trainer laughed.
Last evening's big-race result again confirmed Danny Mullins's ability around Ballybrit. He rode a treble on the Friday here last year and Rock And Roll Kid was a fifth festival success in all for Mullins Jnr, who is apprenticed to Jim Bolger.
"A few people felt Danny was riding the horse from too far back but he was riding to instructions. Barry gave him a free hand and told him not to worry, which was great for a young rider," Mullins added. "He seems to ride Galway brilliantly. Hopefully he'll get friendly with Weld!"
The advisability of amiable relations with Dermot Weld was advertised yet again yesterday as the Ballybrit King saddled three more winners to bring his tally for the week already to five.
Paul Townend picked up a rare ride for the Curragh trainer in the maiden hurdle and made the most of it on Teach Nua, who won easily and could reappear on the flat this afternoon.
It was "as-you-were", though, in the two-mile handicap with champion jockey Pat Smullen guiding Almolahek though a dream passage up the rail to get the better of My Valley.
"It was a great ride from Pat. Every decision he made was the right one," Weld said. "The horse could come back on Saturday for a hurdle race where Ruby (Walsh) could ride."
Qassaar made all in the last but Weld followers took a major hit in the juvenile fillies maiden as the evens favourite Brushed Aside was routed to the tune of nine lengths by Aidan O'Brien's Devoted To You.
The champion trainer won this race with Sunspangled in 1998 and she went on to win a Group One over a mile. Devoted To You looks like making her presence felt in high-class company too.
A €30,000 gamble on restoring Natal to some of his former glory paid off for Co Tyrone-based Jimmy Lambe as the ex-Paul Nicholls-trained horse won the conditions chase to give his new trainer a first winner in Ireland this year.
Grade One placed at Punchestown last year, Lambe picked up Natal at Doncaster Sales and has targeted the James Nicholson at Down Royal next.
The Day Two attendance plunged by almost 30 per cent with a crowd of 15,741 down 6,541 on last year.
Significantly it was also lower then Monday's attendance figure of 17,721.
The Tote was down over €333,000 from last year to €812,140 while there was a €467,416 slide in bookmaker business to €1,660,610.
Fenton fined and Dunguib disqualified from Punchestown win in April
THE BUMPER champion Dunguib has been disqualified from a Grade One race he "won" at Punchestown in April, and his trainer Philip Fenton has been fined €3,000, after the horse tested positive for a banned substance, writes Brian O'Connor.
Dunguib tested positive for a wormer that was administered to him in error by an employee at Fenton's yard before he won the Champion Bumper at Punchestown. He had earlier won the champion bumper at Cheltenham in March.
"We had a very fair hearing. It's an unfortunate case all round. This wormer was mistakenly given to the horse and unfortunately that kind of thing does happen," Fenton said after an appeals hearing in Galway yesterday.
Fenton also has to pay costs estimated at €2,000.
But the Turf Club committee came down even harder on the Co Meath trainer Gavin Cromwell, who was fined €5,000 plus costs after Crossdresser tested positive for lasix when running a controversial third at the same meeting at Punchestown in April. On the day, the Crossdresser team was found to be in breach of the "non-trier" rules and Cromwell was fined €2,000, with jockey Shane McCann banned for 21 days. The horse was suspended from racing for 60 days.
Trainer Michael Butler also had to attend a hearing yesterday and had to pay a €500 fine after his horse Casco Bay returned a positive test due to a feed contaminant. Casco Bay has been disqualified from first in a maiden hurdle he "won" at Kilbeggan last month.
