Well handicapped Jacksonslady looks the ideal candidate in Galway Plate

By George McDonagh

THE €20,000 increase in value of the Tote.com Galway Plate next Wednesday has led to a high quality entry which includes Alderwood, Savello, Ted Veale and Spring Heeled, all previous Cheltenham festival winners.

The Willie Mullins trained Boston Bob (11-10) is the top weight for the €220,000 feature, but that is still seven pounds below the rating achieved following his defeat of First Lieutenant in the Punchestown Gold Cup of 2014.

Rebel Fitz is the fly in the ointment among the top weights. In five runs at Ballybrit, Michael Winters’ stable star has won four times and finished runner up in the other. Now a ten-year-old, Rebel Fitz took the 2013 renewal of the Galway Hurdle from Cause Of Causes, but has had some niggling injury troubles in the past 15 months and hasn’t seen racecourse action since last October.

Tony Martin’s pair of Savello, which returned to winning ways last time, and 2014 festival winner Ted Veale will find the two and three quarter mile trip taxing their stamina, while of the cross channel raiders Jonjo O’Neill’s Its A Gimmie ran a fine race when runner up to another cross channel entrant Brave Spartacus in last Saturday’s Summer Plate at Market Rasen. If the latter turns up, a fast tempo is assured from flag fall.

The David Pipe trained Dell Arca though is worth a closer look although he has only ran three times over fences, winning a class three event at Uttoxeter last time in late May. However, it is his length and a half defeat by Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Coneygree at Newbury last November that is the stand out form, even if a 22 runner cavalry charge that the Plate is will be a far cry from a five runner field irrespective of who wins it.

Alelchi Inois has been towards the head of the ante post market since the entries were revealed and this economic jumper is a dual course winner over the two and a quarter mile trip. He returned to action for the first time since last November with a defeat of Bayan when well supported for a conditions hurdle at Cork three weeks ago.

Pulled up twice in graded company late last year, underfoot conditions would not have suited Alechi Inois then and he will be a live player along with his stable companion Ballinaslow, which caught the eye behind Ravished in the recent Midlands National at Kilbeggan.

Third off a similar mark behind Road To Riches in last year’s renewal, all his racecourse wins have come on right handed tracks. Back down to the same mark as in 2014, Ballinaslow would have been closer to the winner but for getting into the bottom of the final fence and losing momentum in the process. He can go close.

The one to concentrate though is the Phillip Dempsey trained Jacksonslady whose mark of 141 leaves her just four pounds higher then when a battling nine length third in the 2013 Plate behind ‘handicap snip’ Carlingford Lough.

A closer examination of the JP McManus owned mare’s form though tells us that she runs well fresh, therefore an absence since beating Upazo by five lengths at level weights over two miles at the Punchestown festival is not of great concern. A winner over the course and distance in the Latin Quarter Chase at last year’s meeting, she was ridden then by Barry Geraghty, who is now the retained rider for the McManus operation.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.