Willie Mullins fulfilled a life-time ambition by recording his first win as either a trainer or rider in thetote.com Galway Plate as Blazing Tempo justified huge support in the €200,000 feature of day three at the Festival.
Freely available at 10/1 this morning, the seven-year-old mare was hammered on track down to half those odds at the off and was produced with a perfectly timed challenge by Paul Townend on the run-in to overhaul the equally well-supported Wise Old Owl (14/1 into 13/2).
Wise Old Owl looked to have built up a decisive advantage when kicking about three lengths clear after the final fence, at which point last year's winner Finger on the Pulse began to fade.
However Townend, who gradually got into a challenging position on the downhill run to the final two fences, had other ideas and galvanied his mount on the run-in to score by a length and a quarter.
The Cork native has now won both feature races at the Festival, having partnered Indian Pace to take the Guinness Galway Hurdle in 2008. It is difficult to believe but the champion National Hunt jockey is still only 20!
There was an 11 length gap back to the Nicky Henderson-trained Aigle D'Or (25/1) in third, with Hampshire Express (25/1) another seven lengths away in fourth.
Ante-post favourite Bahrain Storm (7/1) departed at the fifth last, while Lucky Wish was right there when falling at the last and brought down the David Pipe-trained Matuhi Majestic Concorde lost any chance when making a bad blunder at halfway.
Mullins said, “Her last run at Punchestown was good, and it was great to get in here off a real racing weight. Paul gave me a fright when he was on his back schooling this morning but thankfully both himself and that horse were fine. My three runners today could all go for the Kerry National, and this mare may possibly be a Hennessy horse. She stays better now than she used to.”
Townend, who only returned from a long-term collarbone injury here on Monday evening, commented, "I got a great run through the race, things could not have gone better. Its great to win a race like the Galway Plate."
Blazing Tempo carries the colours of Rich and Susannah Ricci, although they were unable to make it to Ballybrit as they are currently holidaying in the States.
Alan Magee
