Galway Festival Preview:Mutakarrim has had three attempts at winning the Guinness Galway Hurdle in the past, and two fruitless attempts at the Plate as well, but persistence can finally pay off for the oldest horse in today's €210,000 day-four festival highlight.
To pull it off, the 10-year-old veteran of 62 races will have to get the better of 19 rivals including his stable companion Loyal Focus who also races in the colours of Michael Smurfit.
Not unnaturally on the back of his wide-margin GPT victory on Monday night, Loyal Focus has been one of the plunge horses in ante-post betting and is as low as 6 to 1 to pick up a €50,000 bonus for bringing off the big double that hasn't been done since Athy Spirit 17 years ago.
The Grand National-winning rider Robbie Power has been snapped up for Loyal Focus but yesterday Weld was not dismissing the chances of his old-stager either. "Loyal Focus came out of Monday very well and I expect him to run another very good race," said Weld yesterday. "I expect the same from Mutakarrim. He's getting on a bit now and likes to get things his own way but if that happens, I can see him running very well."
It's not hard to see why. Runner-up to Say Again five years ago, Mutakarrim was ninth to Sabadilla the following year and fifth to Cloone River in 2004. After that he concentrated on the Plate for a couple of years but he's now back on an official rating of 120 which is a stone lower than at his hurdling peak.
Normally that would be filed under the category of age but Mutakarrim put in a remarkable run in May when landing a premier handicap on the flat at Leopardstown under a pound less than he carries today. That's as good a piece of form as the old horse has ever produced on the level and if he can carry it back to the jumps, then he will be a major player again. Afterwards he faced a thankless task chasing home Yeats in the Saval Beg Stakes and then trailed home last in the Curragh Cup.
Weld puts that down to one of those days at the office when things didn't go Mutakarrim's way but he has a fine record around here, winning twice, and at freely available odds of 20 to 1, he looks to be a touch of value in a typically competitive race.
Weld is a three-time former Galway Hurdle winner and another trainer with winning form in the race is Pat Hughes who will be hoping that Farmer Brown can follow in the footsteps of Quinze (1999).
Farmer Brown looked an unlucky loser on the flat when beaten by Westlake, before which he won at both Sligo and Killarney. Before that he had been third to Bob's Pride at the Punchestown Festival and that piece of form will allow Weld a line into one of his main dangers.
Also in there with a big shout must be Serve Time while cross-channel hopes will be carried by the Richard Fahey-trained Freeloader.
A bigger danger, though, could be Hegrid who represents the Tony Martin/Ruby Walsh team who have both yet to win hurdling's main summer prize in Ireland. However, they must have a serious chance with this prolific young horse.
Mutakarrim is on the other end of the age scale but in his first start over hurdles for 15 months, he looks a touch of each-way value to make the 15th win of his career the most valuable.
