Galway’s Gold Cup connection!

THE crowds might have been absent but it was still one of the all-time great weeks for the Irish – and for Galway – at last week’s Cheltenham Festival.

Not only did Flooring Porter romp home in the Stayers Hurdle but there was also a strong Galway connection with the winner of the biggest race on the annual National Hunt Calendar.

Minella Indo – trained by Waterford’s Henry de Bromhead – was under the charge of one Cathal Connolly from Ballyglunin in North Galway, the young man who led in the winner of the famed Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Cathal – a Commerce graduate of NUI Galway – and a fanatical ‘horse man’, is now in charge of one of Henry de Bromhead’s four yards and most importantly the one that looks after Minella Indo.

“I’ve always loved horses. I’ve been up on a pony since I was seven and I have my mam and dad (Francis and Cliona) to thank for bringing me everywhere from hunts to pony races,” Cathal told the Connacht Tribune this week.

Now in his third year under the expert tutelage of Henry de Bromhead, Cathal is in charge of about a quarter of the trainer’s 100 plus horses and always felt that Minella Indo had a strong chance in Cheltenham this year.

Read the full interview with Cathal Connolly – and the story of the Flooring Porter Syndicate – in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or you can download our digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie