Jockey JJ Slevin steered a superb route to Guinness Galway Hurdle glory when Nurburgring dominated the famous €270,000 festival highlight on Thursday.
In a race where there was almost as much focus on the start as the finish, Slevin and his cousin Joseph O’Brien combined for the 13-2 winner, who scored by seven lengths from Ndaawi with My Mate Mozzie repeating his 2023 third-place finish.
However, much of the post-race analysis revolved the beginning to Ireland’s most valuable handicap hurdle.
An original attempt to get the 19 runners off had to be scotched, following which a standing start was attempted, only for one of Willie Mullins’s eight runners, Anotherway, to get a flyer, closely followed by his stable companion Williamstowndancer.
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Much of the rest of the field were immediately on the back foot, including Mullins’s 5-1 favourite Daddy Long Legs who ultimately finished last.
Former champion jockey Davy Russell said on RTÉ that “50 per cent of the field has no chance after five yards” and that they probably shouldn’t have been left go. Even Slevin was moved to describe the start as “a bit of a shambles”.
It didn’t prevent him being in the ideal spot just off the pace throughout and after getting a split at the top of the hill, Nurburgring looked the likely winner from before the second last.
Despite the brouhaha, the stewards decided no action was warranted and although starter Paddy Graffin described the scenario as “not satisfactory” he insisted it was a legal start and that co-operation between jockeys and the starter is a two-way street.
Not for the first time, Danny Mullins’s anticipation skills were to the fore on Anotherway, but Nurburgring still emerged a decisive winner to give Slevin another big-race success.
An Irish Grand National success on Intense Raffles at Easter was followed up by a pair of Grade One successes at Punchestown and now a first victory for in the summer feature.
“It’s a very special race to win. The start was a bit of a shambles, but I got where I wanted to be, and Danny was parking up everywhere and doing his own thing. I let him roll along before the second last and he’s done it well,” Slevin said.
The result continued O’Brien’s excellent week with four winners, including Tuesday’s Mile, making him top trainer here so far.
“He came here with the four-year-olds’ allowance and really it was a fantastic ride from JJ. He got a good start, a lovely position and made a lovely move at the top of the hill. It was a very impressive performance,” said the trainer who won the race in 2017 with Tigris River.
Winter Fog emerged best of the Mullins hopefuls in fourth and afterwards the champion trainer contented himself with a diplomatic “not ideal” when asked about the start.
Nevertheless, there was a sad note to the day for Slevin and O’Brien as Sempo, their runner in the opener won by Pink In The Park, was pulled up after the last with fatal injuries, a “bitter blow” according to the rider.
In the following Grade Three chase landed by Ashdale Bob, another horse, Merlin Giant, sustained fatal injuries in a fall at the sixth. The grim toll continued in the Listed Corrib Stakes as the Ballydoyle runner, Flight Of Fancy, had to be put down after being pulled injured in the dip. It came after fatal injuries to two horses on Monday.
Jockey Gary Carroll rode a double, including the Corrib on Raknah, while racing finished with a 200-1 bookies’ benefit through victory for Brave Crogha, a first winner in six years for local trainer Iggy Madden.
Thursday’s ‘Ladies Day’ attendance was 25,290, down from last year’s 25,924.
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