Summer festival glory for Galway trainers

IT was arguably the training achievement of the Galway summer festival, but local handler Steve Mahon had agonised over whether or not to give Aranhill Chief the green light to attempt a second chasing win in the space of 24 hours at Ballybrit.

There is no shortage of precedents for horses winning twice at the Galway festival over the years, but Aranhill Chief had a hard race in landing the Guinness Beginners Steeplechase last Thursday and would barely have a day to recover from his exertions.

Kilcolgan-based Mahon, who has struck up a successful partnership with main patron Tom Quinn, admitted that his initial view was that the seven-year-old would not be returning to the track the following evening after a gruelling effort in holding off Thomond and Mister Hotelier on ladies day.

“By the time I got home from Galway, the horse had eaten up and he wasn’t showing any obvious signs of fatigue. We gave him a swim early the following morning, had him checked out and everything was looking good, but then it started to rain.”

Mahon explained that Aranhill Chief was best suited to a sound surface and with the rain likely to get into the ground in Ballybrit, connections had more soul-searching to do before finally giving the horse the go ahead to attempt a quick follow up in the €25,000 Guinness Galway Blazers Handicap Chase last Friday evening.

Despite carrying a mandatory 6lbs penalty, Aranhill Chief still attracted plenty of support, especially from punters who were playing up their winnings after backing him at 12/1 and longer the previous afternoon. UK based Denis O’Regan was the successful pilot in the beginners chase, but this time Paul Townend replaced the intended jockey, Mark Enright, who was ruled out by injury.

Typically, Aranhill Chief was prominent from the off over the 2mile, 6 furlong trip – the same distance as the previous day – and, once again, the slick jumping of the 7/1 chance was critical as a host of horses remained in contention at the two fences in the dip.

Aranhill Chief was first to commit for home and though the chasing pack threatened to swallow him up, Mahon’s charge was not for catching, staying on resolutely to just keep top weight Usuel Smurfer at bay in a dramatic finish.

Full report in this week’s Connacht Tribune