Review galway 26th Jul

Eoin Griffin captured the big prize on the opening day of the Galway Festival when Admiral Barry took the carlton.ie/galwaycity (QR) Handicap.

The 10-1 shot moved up to challenge the always-prominent top-weight Mount Helicon on the turn for home in the two-mile contest and the pair settled down to a battle in the closing stages.

Mikey Fogarty always looked as if he was getting the better of the argument, but Mount Helicon stuck to his guns and it was only in the final 100 yards that Admiral Barry got on top to score by a length and a quarter.< Robin Hood (9-4) ran into a smart sort in Pathfork when beaten at odds-on last time, but he made amends with an all-the-way victory in the claregalwayhotel.ie EBF Maiden.

Young Joseph O'Brien shone on the Ballydoyle youngster, quickening up on the turn for home and keeping enough up his sleeve to fend off Tashqeel to score by three-quarters of a length.

Paul Deegan's well-backed Enjoy Your Life (7-1) led a furlong out in the galwaybayhotel.com & radissonhotelgalway.com Handicap under Willie Supple and held the charge of Footprint by half a length.

Wayne Lordan sent Notalossonya into the lead on the home turn in the ghotel.ie & hotelmeyrick.ie Handicap and Edward Lynam's 10-1 chance stayed on well to score by two lengths.

Galway king Dermot Weld wasted no time in getting on the scoresheet as Force Of Habit took the opening hotelmeyrick.ie & ghotel.ie Novice Hurdle.< Hail Caesar looked to be going best when he hit the front at the final flight, but Paul Townend galvanised Force Of Habit and the 5-1 shot got up close home to win by three-quarters of a length.

The other jumps race on the card was the jurysinn.com Handicap Hurdle, in which the Charles Byrnes-trained Kalellshan (8-1) led all the way and battled on strongly to give Davy Russell his first winner on his return from injury.