Sports
Lynch banks on Gatewood to sire future racing stars
AS the cream of the National Hunt crop parade their talents at the annual Cheltenham Festival next week, one Galway stud farm owner is already planning the stars of the future.
John Lynch of Windmill View Stud in Kiltormer this week watched approvingly as his exciting new stallion Gatewood, a Group Three winner in two hemispheres, took to his new duties with relish as he covered the first half dozen of an impressive book of mares booked into him between now and July.
And Lynch should know what it requires to produce a good horse, having been responsible with his friend and neighbour, Sean Whelan, for Just A Par, winner of the Betfred Gold Cup Chase for trainer Paul Nichols at Sandown last April.
Exciting as that achievement was, John Lynch is looking forward, not back. “This lad [Gatewood] is the real deal. He had the class and speed to win at Royal Ascot, the durability to come through 28 races on two continents perfectly sound, and he has great conformation and temperament. He’s a gentleman of a horse.
“He’s got all the qualities to be a successful winner-producer and he’ll certainly inject speed into NH broodmares. I can’t wait to see his first crop of foals.”
And that ringing endorsement neglects to mention that Gatewood has many of the characteristics of his great sire, Galileo, and boasts a double dose of Sadler’s Wells (3×4) in a stallion’s pedigree which, on his dam’s side, features Sleeping Indian, Bach and Aiken. And his dam sire, Selkirk, though better known as a flat stallion, was responsible for champion hurdler Sublimity.
The 8yo Gatewood was racing until last June in the care of John Gosden for whom he won the G3 Prix de Reux at Deauville and the listed Wolferton Handicap over ten furlongs at Royal Ascot among eight wins overall.
That latter win was momentous for the major international owner-breeder George Strawbridge, his first ever at Royal Ascot. “Gatewood gave me the thrill of a lifetime. He was such an exciting horse to watch with an amazing turn of foot. [He] is one of the most honest horses I ever bred,” he recalled afterwards.
In a career that yielded winnings of £285,000stg and total earnings of £420,000stg, Gatewood also won the established Melbourne Cup trial, the Geelong Cup, in October 2012 but had his bid for the Flemington showpiece scuppered by the firm ground. Among his victims over the years was subsequent Gr1 Coronation Cup winner Pether’s Moon.
In the meantime, John Lynch, who had stood a number of stallions at his 106-acre Kiltormer base over the years, was on the lookout for a successor to Island House, the sire of Just A Par, and went to the Newmarket Horses in Training Sale last Autumn with the hope of finding the ideal specimen.
He was accompanied by Sean Whelan, the man who bred Just A Par and was one of the syndicate of eight, including Lynch, who had put him into training with TJ Nagle in Cork and then struck paydirt when they sold him for £260,000stg (€330,000) at the Brightwell Sales at Cheltenham after he had won his Point-to-Point at Loughrea and Maiden Hurdle at Punchestown.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
GALWAY United need to guard against any kind of complacency when they make the short hop down the M18 this Friday to take on Treaty United at the Markets Field (7.45pm).
The game is a meeting of the two form teams in the division, and as in previous meetings between the sides, will have an additional edge given the number of former United players in the home side’s ranks, and the pair of Limerick lads playing for United.
There might have been just the eight meetings between the sides since Treaty became the latest iteration to represent Limerick in the League of Ireland in 2021, and while United have yet to lose to the men in the candy-cane strips, there has never been more than a goal in four of their eight wins.
The most recent of those was back in February, when Rob Slevin scored the only goal of the game in Eamonn Deacy Park after a tough battle against a side who made a slow start to the season, before finally finding their groove in the past month.
Having taken just three points from their first six games before finally getting a win against Longford Town, they reverted to type with just one point from their next three games, but are now on a run of four wins on the spin, scoring 12 goals and conceding just one.
Their most recent win was a 3-0 victory away to Longford Town last Saturday, and they could have won by double that against the only side to have beaten United this season. That in itself is a warning.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Soccer Wrap with Mike Rafferty
While the Salthill Devon men’s team might have lost their grip on the Connacht Junior Cup that they held for two seasons, the club’s women’s side have picked up the mantle and on Sunday last in Headford were crowned provincial champions with a 4-3 win over Manulla.
Following midweek wins for Maree/Oranmore and Knocknacarra, the stage is now almost set for the semi-finals of the Michael Byrne Cup with Salthill Devon meeting St Bernard’s on Sunday in an outstanding quarter-final, with the winners advancing to a semi-final against Maree/Oranmore, while Colga will face Knocknacarra in the other last four contest.
Just one league issue remains to be decided, with the Championship runners-up position up for grabs, as Dynamo Blues have to win their two remaining games in order to overtake Colemanstown United who have finished their programme.
WOMEN’S CONNACHT CUP FINAL
Salthill Devon 4
Manulla 3
Ellerose O’Flaherty scored twice as Salthill Devon were crowned provincial champions with a win over a Mayo side who were losing in the final for the second year in succession.
Backboned by a number of players who previously had League of Ireland experience with Galway WFC, Devon suffered an early set back when Jess Nolan put Manulla ahead, before O’Flaherty levelled matters with a cracking finish on 20 minutes, which was quickly followed by a long-range free-kick from Aoife Walsh.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
