Gavin Cromwell’s William Hill blog: Galway Festival main hopes

William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell previews his Galway Plate and Hurdle hopes, Perceval Legallois and My Mate Mozzie, as well as nominating a couple to watch for the rest of the meeting.

Perceval Legallois, Galway Plate, Wednesday

We’re excited to run Perceval Legallois in the Galway Plate (7.10pm) as he looks to have the right profile for the race. It’s difficult to say how well handicapped he is, but the way the race ought to be run should suit him, and he’s also a winner around the track, which is a big positive. He’s been training really well at home, and has come out of his last race really well. There’s no getting away from the fact that it’s a super competitive race, but we like his chances and are hopeful of a big run.

My Mate Mozzie, Galway Hurdle, Thursday

My Mate Mozzie has obviously been a class act for us for a long time, and we’re looking forward to sending him back to the Galway Hurdle (5.05pm) again on Thursday. He is the most versatile horse – he’s done it going chasing, on the Flat and now back hurdling, so we’re just fortunate to have a horse like him. He arrives here off what was probably a career best at Royal Ascot, so we think we’ve got him in top form. We know he handles the track, the conditions should suit well, so we’re hopeful that he can put in a cracking effort and build on his third place finish last year.

Ones to watch at Galway

On Thursday I’m excited about Born Braver in the novice hurdle (4.30pm), as he seems like a horse going in the right direction. He comes to this race off the back of two nice wins, and he just could be the “now” horse in the race. He’ll carry more weight than the rest, and we’ll have to see how good Willie Mullins’ Ninth Titan is, but I’d like to think our fella can give a good account of himself.

Sixandahalf in the mile-and-a-half handicap on Friday (6.35pm) is an interesting one. It’s her first run in a handicap and I’d like to think she’s got a bit of scope off her opening mark of 84. She’s obviously a filly we’ve spoken about in the blog plenty so far this year, and we’ve been delighted to get her to win a couple of times too. On paper, you’ve got some of the real big guns sending runners to the race, but we like our girl, and our stable apprentice, Robert Whearty, will be on board, and we’re hopeful she’ll go close.