Barry Geraghty’s William Hill blog: Matty and Cobden can claim the Plate

William Hill ambassador Barry Geraghty previews the Galway Plate and Galway Hurdle.

Edward O’Grady

It was very sad news to hear of Edward O’Grady’s passing. I rode a lot for Edward, in my early years especially, and rode his final Cheltenham winner, Sky’s The Limit in 2006. I also rode a Morgiana Hurdle winner for him with Back In Front and several Grade 1 winners.

He was a brilliant trainer and a flagbearer in Ireland through the 90’s for Cheltenham and big race success. He didn’t enjoy the same level of success in recent years, but he was always a very shrewd operator and a really good man to ride for.

Galway, Wednesday

The Mares Handicap Hurdle (6:05pm) looks a competitive race but the one I like and that I think could be value is MISS FOURIE. She was second in this race last year and she went on to win a valuable handicap at Killarney two starts later, beating Mighty Tom by nine lengths. You could say she’s been a little disappointing since, but she’s had a prep run at Bellewstown last time, where she finished 10 lengths behind Bowensonfire, who is set to run in the Gallway Hurdle on Thursday, and this looks to have been the target. Peter Fahey is a very good target trainer and he’s dangerous when he lines one up for Galway.

Nurburgring is potentially very well-handicapped in the Galway Plate (6:40pm). He was a good winner in Killarney last time, so he comes here in form. Galway is a very tight track though and it sticks in the memory that he looked outpaced at times when he finished fourth behind Caldwell Potter at Cheltenham in March. I’m not fully convinced he has the cruising speed to be able to travel comfortably around here. Instead, I like JAZZY MATTY, who we tipped to win at Cheltenham, I thought two miles was going to be sharp enough for him, but he put in a really good performance and jumped brilliantly on what was only his fifth start over fences. It’s really interesting that Harry Cobden has been booked to ride. He’s had good success for Irish trainers recently, winning the Scottish National for Willie Mullins and the Summer Plate for Gavin Cromwell just last week. He’s an eye-catching jockey booking.

Galway, Thursday

Pied Piper brings the best hurdle and chase form into the Grade 3 novice chase (2:10pm), but there are concerns about him dropping back in trip and he does tend to jump out to his left, which is a big negative around Galway. SPECIAL CADEAU was second to Nurburgring in Killarney last time, where he looked to travel really strongly. Prior to that he has some good form in the book, beating Westport Cove in Thurles earlier this year. He looks to have the pace for this sharp track and I’d rather side with him than Pied Piper.

I think the market for the Galway Hurdle (4:30pm) looks about right, and the top two could be a bit better than the rest. Puturhandstogether was really impressive in the Fred Winter. He disappointed at Aintree on his next start but you can probably forgive him that as a juvenile travelling back to England again so soon after his Cheltenham win. He warmed up for this with a decent run at Tipperary last time, so he’s definitely one to have on side. However, NDAAWI, who was second in this race last year as a four-year-old, is the one I’d like to side with. He ran a fine race to finish second to Kargese in the County Hurdle, which is generally a stronger race than the Fred Winter. To me, he looks to have been kept for this race and he offers a bit more value than Puturhandstogether.