2004 Aintree Grand National hero and local jockey Graham Lee partnered his first Galway winner today, when making all for a famous win on the Donald McCain trained Overturn in the €250,000 Guinness Galway Hurdle, becoming Britain’s third winner of the famous handicap.
Lee bounced out Overturn, under 11st6lbs, in front and the son of Barathea never let up his fast pace, stretching clear in the dip, before eventually running out the easy five and a half lengths winner over last year’s winner Bahrain Storm
Afterwards Lee, who is from Mervue (some five miles from the track), Co Galway but has been based in Britain most of his riding career, stated “this is a dream come true. I used to come here as a child and to win this race is unbelievable.”
He added “Donald (McCain) gave me the perfect riding instructions and told me to ride the horse ‘brain-dead’ and to go quick from the front! I asked him whether or not I should give him a breather and let him fill his lungs but he just said to keep up the gallop. It takes some doing from the horse to win under so much weight and to do it so well.”
McCain, son of Red Rum’s trainer Ginger McCain, was himself recording his first Galway winner and mentioned “Overturn is a very uncomplicated horse but he was very disappointing for us up until last Christmas where we managed to get him beaten in a handicap hurdle from a rating of 95 – he won today rated 145!”
“I feel sorry for my stable jockey Jason Maguire, who was supposed to ride the horse until he had a heavy fall the other day. Graham was a great substitute though and gave the horse a great ride.”
"I've no immediate plans with Overturn now but we'll have to look at the good conditions races with him now. He seems to be thriving on his racing but he isn't really a mid-winter type of horse."
Overturn's success was the first British win in the race, which has been running since 1913, since Sagaman's win in 1991 while Rushmoor in 1986 was the first foreign trained winner of the race.
Overturn received an introductory quote of 25/1, with William Hills, for the 2011 Cheltenham Champion Hurdle.
