Dark Crusader aims to swoop

Only one of the seven that contests the Guinness Race has previous experience at Galway, and that runner, Dark Crusader is also the sole mare in the line-up.

Tony Martin's daughter of Cape Cross was successful on the opening day of the Festival in 2013 and she added to those gains at York the following month.

Dark Crusader has been without success in 12 outings since, and her rating has dropped from a high of 102 back to 98.

That still certainly puts Fran Berry's mount in with a chance in this extended mile-five event, where Certerach sets the standard on an official mark of 107.

He of course enjoyed his finest hour when carrying off the Group Two Dubai Gold Cup at Meydan in March 2014.

It has been a fruitless spell for Certerach in the meantime, but he has to be considered strongly, along with Dermot Weld's lightly-raced Good Tradition Pat Flynn's Highly Toxic and Ger Lyons' Chapter Seven