Glenburnie delight at the Curragh

IT"S Galway Festival week and by the time you are reading this we will know the winners of the races on Monday and Tuesday and, hopefully, some of you will be ahead and looking forward to the rest of the week! On Monday I will have ran three horses and I would have hoped that Be Fantastic or Archmani will have won the three year-old only handicap and that my two year-old Kinetic Quest will have been at least placed in the maiden. No doubt D K Weld has already won a heap of races and is sick telling us all how easy it is to win a race at Galway! The big one on Tuesday was the Tote Galway Mile (premier handicap) and I do hope that Slam Dunk has run well in it as he is owned by a local Galway man and it is a very good pot to win. But before I get stuck into the happenings down at the Ballybrit track I have to tell you about the Curragh last Sunday. Both Elletelle and Pasar Silbano did Glenburnie proud as both won their listed races at HQ and in the process enhanced their paddock values immensely. Keagan gave the two year-old a magnificent ride in the first and to make it all the sweeter (if that was possible) my better half owns the filly. She was bought to win the Goff"s Sportsman"s Sales race and so all of this (she has now won three races and got black type) is a bonus. Elletelle showed us last week that she was coming back to her best at Fairyhouse and under the usual confident ride from the incomparable Johnny Murtagh she just held on to win the Sweet Mimosa Stakes. This bodes well for the future, as I think she will get better as time passes and I would look forward to a stronger, better filly next season. For me to have a listed race double at the home of Irish racing is a massive breakthrough, as to say it has not been a lucky track would be an understatement! This year things have turned and I presume it"s because we have had the right horses; at least that"s what Johnny kept telling me. Maybe it"s because Keagan has changed our luck, but whatever it is, it"s a great feeling to be competitive on the big stage. And now, just as we are getting it together there, they are going and closing the place for a year. I never thought I would say this, but I will miss it! Obviously, that was the highlight at the Curragh, but I suppose I had better mention the group one Independent Waterford Wedgewood Phoenix Stakes! As usual, or should I say for the 15th time this year, Aidan O"Brien has won a Gr1. Mastercraftsman won easily from the English challenger and Coventry Stakes winner Art Connoisseur which only just managed to hold on to second place. The winner, a colt by Danehill Dancer, is as short as 5/1 for next year"s 2000 Guineas. I was always told that you could give weight but not distance and I fear that Jamie Spencer gave his fellow a lot to do and set him an impossible task. That said, I think the tactics employed by the Ballydoyle jockeys were spot on and the understanding that the boys have about their mounts is second to none. It"s not a coincidence that they are winning all before them. Saturday saw Aidan and Johnny over at Ascot for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes with Duke Of Marmalade and after a minor fright from Papal Bull, they won by a cosy half length and it was nine lengths back to the third. I said at the start of the season that this was potentially the best horse in Ballydoyle and although their talent seems to be endless, this is without doubt an exceptional colt that seems to have everything. The BGC Sussex Stakes group one is on Wednesday at Goodwood and I feel that the best miler in Europe at the moment - if not the world - Henrythenavigator will win this and continue the Coolmore/Ballydoyle dominance of group one races, both at home and abroad. I take my hat off to them; what a feat to win so many group ones in the same season and they are not finished yet. Back at home there is a big race on every day at Galway. I won"t mention the two big jump races as I wouldn"t have an idea about the recent form, but both the hurdle on Thursday and the Plate on Wednesday are the jewels in the Ballybrit crown and are always the highlight of the summer programme. There are 60 British entries during the week and this shows the powerful attraction that is Galway. Among the main flat races is the Tote Mile worth €160,000 on Tuesday in which, if the ground stays on the good side, I feel Slam Dunk will run a big race. The €70,000 Guinness Handicap over one mile, four furlongs is the big one on Friday and unfortunately Vincenzio Gallilei met with a setback and he won"t make the line up. On Saturday, the two year-olds have their premier handicap worth €40,000 and this is a race that we have done well in previously, winning it with An Tadh and just getting beaten a head with Howunowkid. It takes a good sort to win this race and my experience tells me that the winner will be invariably top weight or very close to it. I will have a few entries in this, but I"m not so sure that I have the material this year to win it. However, we will certainly be trying. Sunday seems so far away and for some it will be the end of a very long week and if the weather has held up then the track will just about survive. However, if the rain arrives I can"t see how the track will be in good condition by Sunday which hosts the second major handicap of the week, the Michael McNamara & Co Builders Dublin & Galway Handicap worth €150,000. This is over seven furlongs and three year-olds have a good record here. I think I will hold a few entries, with the likes of Slam Dunk, Dohasa, Leandross and Young Jemmy looking like they fit the bill. That will be it for another year, although I have heard it mentioned that the racecourse would like to extend into the following bank holiday Monday! God forbid that happens - when is enough not enough? The sale season is just around the corner and this for me is one of the most stressful times during the year as the horses we buy are next season"s hopefuls. If you get it wrong you will pay for it for the next two years until the end of their three year-old career. If you don"t buy enough you will start a cycle that is hard to rectify, as if you don"t have two year- olds then by definition you won"t have three year-olds the following year. Then you are already two years behind and will have to play catch-up if you wish to compete. The slowdown in the economy will no doubt play its part at the sales and I would hope that we will be able to get value for money because of that, but they tell me that the top horse will still cost plenty. The dream continues! n Visit the Ger Lyons website www.gerlyons.ie