Saint Roi a winner to remember for Aidan Kelly

Willie Mullins-trained nine-year-old bounces back at Galway.

Saint Roi and Hurricane Georgie, both unplaced in the Galway Plate earlier in the week, returned to Ballybrit on the final day of the festival to win.

The Willie Mullins-trained Saint Roi, a Grade One winner over fences as a novice and also successful in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham in 2020, is now nine but relished being ridden aggressively by Aidan Kelly.

He looked a sitting duck in the Lord Hemphill Memorial Handicap Chase as The Dasher Conway and Dreal Deal closed in but he battled back to win by a length and a quarter at 13-2.

Kelly said: “I’d say he wasn’t suited by the big field in the Plate, he got a fright at the first and never travelled from there on.

“Willie and Frank (Berry, racing manager to owner JP McManus) today just said have him as handy as you can and he jumped and travelled great.

“He was taking a grip coming to his fences, but in the straight I’d say he was just getting a bit lonely. I’m probably having more of a blow than he is!”

He added: “This is my first winner for Willie, but I’ve only had a couple of rides for him.”

The victory ensured Mullins ended the week as leading trainer, while the success of Gordon Elliott’s Hurricane Georgie for Jack Kennedy meant he took home the leading rider prize.

Hurricane Georgie bounced back from finishing seventh in the Galway Plate to win
Hurricane Georgie bounced back from finishing seventh in the Galway Plate to win (Niall Carson/PA)

Sent off 4-1 in the Kinlay Hostel Chase having finished seventh in the Plate, she gradually wore down Mullins’ Easy Game and pulled away to win comfortably by four and a half lengths.

“She’s a great little mare, she’s very tough. She’s not the biggest in the world and she prefers those smaller fields. She jumped very well there today,” said Kennedy.

“I picked them up fairly handy and I’d say she only did what she had to when she hit the front.”

Regarding being top jockey for the festival he said: “I don’t usually have a good Galway so it’s nice to get that this year.

“It’s a great week when you’re having a bit of luck, but it’s a long week when you’re not!”

Kennedy had earlier won on Mark Fahey’s 100-30 joint-favourite Flicker Of Hope in the Kenny Galway Handicap Hurdle.

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