'This is the right mare to go over with' - Fergal O'Brien embracing Galway Hurdle challenge with Dysart Enos

Fergal O’Brien will have his first Galway Festival runner when Dysart Enos lines up in the Guinness Galway Hurdle later this month and her trainer hopes she can return to the winner's enclosure following a season which he has described as "disappointing". 

The 2023 Grade 2 Aintree mares' bumper winner will be one of two possible English runners in the race, with the Jonjo and AJ O’Neill-trained Wilful also among the entries.

After starting her season last year by finishing third in the Greatwood Hurdle, Dysart Enos failed to live up to expectations in her two runs following that, including when finishing a well-beaten eighth behind Lossiemouth in the Mares’ Hurdle.

Her close fourth in the Scottish Champion Hurdle was an improvement, and she was last seen making her Flat debut at Kempton earlier this month when again finishing fourth.

O’Brien said: “You would have to say last season was disappointing but she finished with a good run in the Scottish Champion Hurdle and the idea to run her in the Galway Hurdle was mentioned after that. 

“We gave her a run on the Flat recently and she ran okay. At the end of the day she's a hurdler and we felt like she would get in off a nice mark here. The ground will be nice at Galway and she likes the sun on her back. She is very straightforward and has been working great."

Fergal O'Brien: trainer of Dysart EnosCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

O'Brien's only previous winner in Ireland came in 2014 when the Conor Shoemark-ridden Me And Ben struck at Listowel's harvest festival.

“It will be my first runner at the Galway festival and I am really looking forward to it," said O'Brien. "I have always said that it is hard enough to win at home but this is the right mare to go over with.

“It's a great race to be taking part in and I will be near my family home in Ballina, so I can fly into Shannon and have a night at home and then just head an hour up the road. The last time I was at the festival was in 2011. I was still working for Nigel Twiston-Davies and our only runner unseated at the first, so things can only improve from that.

O’Brien did not rule out further Flat runs for Dysart Enos, who won her first six starts under rules. He said: ‘We haven’t looked past Galway but I’d love to get her back on the Flat, she didn’t run badly the other day. She doesn’t like the depths of winter, so we'll try to make hay now while the sun is shining.”

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