Galway best bets: New yard has high hopes for No More Porter in wide open handicap
- Steve Jones
- 1 August 2023
While UK racing focuses on Glorious Goodwood, racing pundit Steve Jones, who runs CD Systems on Tipstrr, has cast his expert eye across the Irish Sea to a big-field one-mile handicap at Galway.
18:40 Galway: Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap (1 mile 123 yards)
Only one winner in the last decade has carried more than 9st-7lb to victory in this race, with seven of the last nine winners carrying nine stone or less.
The last six winners have all come out of double-figure draws, with the first four home last year drawn 19, 21, 16 and18, all of which bodes well for No More Porter, who is drawn out in stall 20.
The five-year-old only joined current trainer Ado McGuinness in mid-March, since when he has produced a very consistent series of performances over trips between six and eight furlongs on ground ranging from good to soft-heavy.
Those five runs for his new yard have all been in valuable premier handicaps and they have included a fifth of 27 in the Irish Lincolnshire at the Curragh on his stable debut following an absence of 195 days..
Planet Sport Bet: Bet £20+ cash on any runner in the race and if Current Option finishes in the first 5 places, get a £5 Free Bet!
He was staying on well in the closing stages and the combination of conditions he had that day was very similar to here, except that this time he is race-fit, his trainer knows a lot more about him and he is effectively seven pounds lower, having been reunited with Jamie Powell, who used to ride him for previous connections.
The partnership has raced on four previous occasions and those runs have included three top-four finishes in big-field handicaps at the Curragh.
Clearly, this horse and rider get on particularly well, so Powell's booking looks a shrewd move by McGuinness, who has won no less than three of the last four renewals of this race.
High-class big-field.handicaps over this sort of trip are clearly what No More Porter enjoys, especially when there is plenty of cut in the ground. He is in exactly the right hands to run a big race in this particular event and that looks very likely under this rider.
Suggested bet:
No More Porter in the 18:40 at Galway
Of the others, dual-purpose performer Mister Wilson switches back to the Flat for the first time since last October, when he ended last season by winning over this course and distance, and then going close over nine furlongs at Tipperary in two of his last three outings of the campaign.
Late last season, Mister Wilson ran within half a length of Saltonstall when the pair finished 1-2 in a nine-furlong soft-ground handicap at Tipperary. Whilst Saltonstall now has an eight-pound higher mark than he had at then, Mister Wilson's mark remains unchanged, so there is significant weight turnaround in Mister Wilson's favour for just half a length.
Next best bet:
Mister Wilson in the 18:40 at Galway
The four-year-old has been running very well over hurdles this year (figures 33213) and looks likely to return to the Flat with a big performance under these conditions.
