Galway Races 2015: Katie Walsh - Quick Jack was too good but Stars a credit again

30 July 2015; Denis O'Regan lifts the trophy after winning winning the Guinness Galway Hurdle Handicap on Quick Jack. Galway Racing Festival, Ballybrit, Galway. Picture credit: Cody Glenn / SPORTSFILE

Katie Walsh

I WAS out of luck in the Galway Hurdle yesterday but once again Thousand Stars came out of the race with great credit finishing sixth and picking up another cheque along the way.

At 25/1 he was an outsider I suppose but unfortunately we clipped heels shortly after the start and from then I was always going a notch faster than I wanted but he stayed on well and finished sixth and is truly a horse of a lifetime.

Quick Jack was just too good on the day and it was a brilliant training performance again from Tony Martin.

There was plenty of horses flat out for a lot of the journey and I’d say the only two that really travelled the whole way were Quick Jack and Thomas Edison - both Tony Martin’s - and he was definitely unlucky not to have a 1-2. Denis gave him a great ride and got a great run up the inner and he was a very impressive winner of the amateur race here last year and a very impressive winner of the hurdle yesterday.

A lot of people would have backed Ruby on Diakali but it wasn’t to be for them. He’s a better horse than that but it just didn’t happen for him and that can happen at Galway. I have walked the track every day and they’ve done a great job here with the ground and moving rail but it takes 25-minutes to walk the track at Galway and 45-minutes to walk any of the metropolitan tracks so that just tells you how tight and sharp it is around Galway and that just doesn’t suit some horses.

I had no joy in the bumper and Patrick’s horse Prince D’Aubrelle was very impressive but I actually don’t think the quality of bumpers here have been what they can be but there’s no doubt the quality of the hurdle races especially have been top class.

When you see the horses that didn’t make the Galway Hurdle and Galway Plate you see how good they were and then when you look at the winners of the novice hurdles it is almost frightening to think that it is still summer racing.

Looking ahead to tomorrow and a horse I won a bumper on, Western Boy, should win the feature race for Pat Fahy.

Pat is a very good trainer and doesn’t have a massive string but does extremely well with what he has and I think after winning on the flat last time that Western Boy can go back to winning over hurdles here.

I’ve no ride tonight but I will be roaring on Clondaw Warrior for the Act D Wagg Syndicate which features my sister in law Gillian.

They run in the big Guinness Handicap and it would be some way to follow up his Royal Ascot win if he can do it again.

KATIE'S CHOICE: GALWAY  TOMORROW

3.15 Western Boy

6.05 First Figaro

GALWAY TODAY

5.10 Morga

6.15 Rogue Angel

6.50 Clondaw Warrior