Today's Jackpot pool at Galway will be hugely boosted by a carryover of £84,942 following a number of surprise results at the same venue yesterday.
There were three runners without any units in the final leg of the jackpot, the 16-runner Great Southern Hotels Galway Handicap, and the Tony Martin-trained Oran led a furlong out under Tadgh O'Shea to provide the carryover.
Martin explained to the stewards that the four-year-old is difficult to train (wind sucker and a box walker), and that he has changed his training routine. Colm O'Donoghue was given a two-day suspension for careless riding aboard Bay Ridge (finished seventh) in the Derrinstown Stud Apprentice Maiden after an incident involving a number of horses soon after the start. Michael Hussey got Colouring up in the final strides to pip Serpico in this extended mile event.
Blow Wind Blow appears to reserve his best form for Ballybrit and was stepped up considerably in trip to take the three-mile Gerald Naughton Memorial Handicap Hurdle under Conor O'Dwyer. The Frank Berry-trained gelding was about to head Valley Of Kings when that rival fell at the last and badly hampered Rhapsody Gale.
Punters got off to a good start with the strongly fancied pair Ceoil Agus Craic and Patsy Veale taking the opening two races. Ceoil Agus Craic made all in the hands of John Cullen in the Connacht Tribune Beginners Chase, while Patsy Veale headed Gypsy Melody before the last to justify odds-on support in the Kenny Development Group Maiden Hurdle.
Mark Johnston reached yet another milestone when completing the fastest 1,000 winners on the Flat in Britain when sending out Double Honour to take the European Breeders Fund Maiden at Hamilton yesterday.
Double Honour, who is among the entries for next year's Vodafone Derby, scored in good style under Darryll Holland, beating Exotic Fan by four lengths but Johnston, travelling back from saddling Fruits Of Love in Germany on Sunday, did not manage to see the race.
But he said later: "Thank God that is out of the way! It has been a relatively quiet spell for us - we had been having a winner every day and then it has taken us a week to get from 999 to 1,000.
"It is nice that Double Honour is owned by The Fourth Middleham Partnership which is funded by Ron Huggins who has been a great supporter of the stable and who was one of my earliest owners - and nice that Darryll Holland rode the horse."
Meanwhile, Johnston reports his filly, Littlepacepaddocks, in tremendous form for Saturday's St Leger at Doncaster and boosted her backers' confidence after saying he "would not be surprised" if the daughter of Accordion were to win the race.
The winner of a Listed contest at Newbury in June and fourth in the Irish Oaks, she is as short as 13 to 2 with William Hill, having been 20 to 1 over the weekend.
Aidan O'Brien remains doublehanded with Lermontov and Rostropovich and the Irish challenge could also include the Dermot Weld-trained Media Puzzle along with supplementary entry Chimes At Midnight (Luke Comer).
