RACING: Less than three weeks ago Quadco looked set for a return to the injury list but instead the enigmatic star last night completed a fairytale return by winning the GPT Handicap on the opening night of the Galway Festival.
Quadco's previous run at Wexford on fast ground had caused Pat Fahy to make yet another call to the vet. It's a number the Carlow-based trainer has committed to memory ever since Quadco announced his talent with a scintillating bumper success at Liverpool two years ago.
"I was getting fed up telling people he was injured all the time. It was either his back, or his left shoulder, or his right shoulder, always something.
"He ran at Wexford the other day and I thought he had broken down on both legs he was so bad. But my vet, Oscar Mozzarello, did a wonderful job.
"The thing is he is such a fantastic horse on his day. We've known it since Aintree but with all the injuries we were just starting to lose faith a little bit," Fahy said.
Quadco restored that faith with a vengeance on ground that had almost everyone else despairing but cushioned the winner's fragile legs.
Peter Fahey (no relation) sent him to the front before the turn in and the rest of the supposedly competitive field were left floundering.
"I am so surprised. We scanned him more than once after Wexford and Oscar kept saying he was okay. That's why we're here. I was worried about his legs for the Galway Hurdle and took him out but on this ground, we might pull him out again on Sunday," the trainer added.
Rathbawn Prince plugged on gamely to be a distant second to Quadco but Dessie Hughes reported: "He will hardly run in the Plate. He has had a very hard race there." The ground was changed to "soft" after the second but even that seemed to fail to describe how testing it was.
"Terrible - as bad as you can get around here. It's just so deep. Even a shower would be great to loosen it up a bit," reported Kevin Manning.
"Very testing. It would be wrong to call it bottomless but it's very heavy, especially for two year olds. It cost my fellah the race," said Pat Smullen.
He was referring to Faadhil who started favourite for the seven-furlong maiden and looked all over the winner only to be caught by the Sheikh Hamdan second-string Abunawwas.
The winner looked smart and could take on Van Nistelrooy in the Group Two Futurity next.
Faadhil was at the centre of a very low-key festival start for Dermot Weld. Direct Bearing was second favourite for the GPT and was beaten down the back while Wimbledon managed only fourth to Consalvo.
Naahil also started favourite in the opener and had to settle for fifth behind the JP McManus-owned Puck Out. Christy Roche was low-key about the winner and said: "He hasn't much size or scope and I wouldn't see him having much of a future.
"But he has won his bumper and his maiden and things have worked out well." Puck Out was a comparatively fancied 5 to 1 winner but as the evening progressed, the going got harder too for the punters.
Lowlander was favourite for the mile and a half handicap and turned for home with what looked like a winning advantage. He looked less than enthusiastic in the lead, however, and the 25 to 1 Avena Sativa swept through under a polished drive from Helen Keohane to win by a couple of lengths.
As if that wasn't bad enough, Langkwai Bay at 20 to 1 ploughed through the mud to score from Red Strand in the mile handicap.
But there was a reprieve in the last. Wouldn't You Agree started a 3 to 1 favourite and won like an odds-on shot. Alan Crowe asked for an effort on the turn in and the Roche runner shot clear.
Poor weather hit the Galway attendance with a crowd of 15,971 being almost 2,000 down on the same evening last year. That, and the impact of the euro, resulted in betting figures being slightly down too. The bookies turnover was €1,471,056, down almost €30,000. The Tote figure of €735,283 compared to €782,635 last year. There will be a Jackpot pool of €42,427 carried forward to tonight. The best betting race was the two-year-old race with €276,877 bet with the bookies.
