Local favourite Pakens Rock bound for Galway Bank Holiday meeting
IN a year when the famed Galway summer meeting celebrated its 150th anniversary, it is fitting that the season’s action at Ballybrit concludes with another festival.
Unlike its summer counterpart, the three-day Galway October Bank Holiday Festival is only a fledgling fixture – having been staged for the first time 12 months ago.
Once again, the opening two days of the meeting – Saturday (2.05pm) and Sunday (1.05pm) – will comprise of National Hunt action, with Monday hosting a seven-race flat fixture (1.10pm).
The feature event on Saturday is the €27,000 WB Gavin & Co Handicap Hurdle and though Pakens Rock features among the entries, the six-year-old is more likely to have a crack at the Annesley Williams Novice Hurdle the following day.
Owned by Ray Healy, the former St Thomas’ hurler, and trained by Clarinbridge-based Barry Murphy, Pakens Rock will be striving to complete a quick Ballybrit hat-trick after victories over the smaller obstacles in September and earlier this month.
Another Galway horse of interest is the consistent Shanwalla which holds an entry in Saturday’s Corrib Oil Maiden Hurdle. Already a bumper winner, Paul Gilligan’s charge really caught the eye when finishing an honourable third behind two highly-regarded types in Punchestown last week.
Sunday’s card is dominated by the €26,000 Marlin Hotel Dublin Handicap Chase, with six of the 18 entries supplied by the Gordon Elliott stable, including Gun Digger which is likely to strip significantly fitter following his seasonal reappearance at Ballybrit in early October.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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