Galway Festival 2026: Top trainers make their mark on the opening day
Two of the top horse racing trainers in the business enjoyed a memorable opening day at the 2026 Galway Festival on Monday.
Backing Willie Mullins’ runners is always one of the most popular Galway Races tips and he was quick to get off the mark in the first race at the meeting.
Joseph O’Brien was also on the scoreboard, firing home two quickfire winners in the middle of the card.
Mullins hurdler casts a spell on her rivals
Witches Familiar demonstrated her class in the opening two-mile novice hurdle to continue Mullins’ excellent record in the race.
He has now won the race eight times since 2014, most notably with subsequent Grade 1 winner Mystical Power.
Witches Familiar added her name to the roll of honour, powering clear of Mino Des Mottes on the run-in to score by eight and a half lengths.
Mullins has already set his sights on more ambitious targets, with the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse now on the agenda.
"She's one we think a bit of,” Mullins said. “We kept her for Galway, after she won so easily first time up.
“We had her in for a lot of last season, but we kept her as a novice. We thought she was a bit better than the average novice.
"You won’t get too many Zaraks now for jumping-bred mares. It’s nice to have a filly going jumping by him.
"We’ll up her in grade as best we can. I’d probably be looking at her as a Royal Bond-type filly.
“I can see her being a good mare in novice company for the whole season. I’d be looking at the long term rather than shorter term with her."
O’Brien runner springs a surprise in the feature race
Joseph O’Brien was not expected to saddle the winner of the Connacht Hotel Qualified Riders' Handicap according to the market, despite his red-hot form this summer.
However, the JP McManus-owned Comfort Zone outran his odds of 18/1 to record a truly memorable victory under Derek O’Connor.
The 44-year-old, who was a 7lb claimer when he previously won the race on Rapid Deployment for Pat Hughes in 2003, produced the horse with a well-timed run.
He fended off runner-up Holy See by three parts of a length, with the 2023 winner Teed Up not far behind in third place. O’Connor was delighted with the victory.
"It's one of those prestigious races and it's Galway in the summertime, so it's a lovely race to win," O’Connor said.
"It's extremely difficult to win, and to get nice rides off Mr McManus and Joseph O'Brien, when you're not tied to instructions and can do it freehand, is great.
“I'm only 20 minutes from here and the Monday here is a real local day, so it's lovely."
O’Brien completed a double in the next race, with Dancing Saxon justifying odds of 13/8 to win the Clayton Hotel Galway Handicap under Dylan Browne McMonagle.
The daughter of Saxon Warrior was held up towards the rear in the early stages of the race, before powering clear to win by four-and-a-quarter lengths.
“She hasn’t coped with soft ground like that before but I thought Dylan gave her a fantastic ride,” O’Brien said.
“The pace was very strong early and he was cool, and then he moved at the right time. She obviously was well handicapped.
“She’ll probably step back into stakes company now and we’ll see if we can get some more black-type. David and Linda Fish will breed from her long-term.”
