'He has the makings of a nice novice hurdler' - Willie Mullins unleashes son of Annie Power in festival opener

Galway has rarely had such a tasty appetiser on the menu. First up at Ballybrit is none other than Mystical Power, the son of the mighty Annie Power and the mightier Galileo. 

Given who his folks are, Mystical Power's performances are always going to be scrutinised more than others and some were underwhelmed by his debut in a Ballinrobe bumper. He won it convincingly enough in the end, and never really looked like being beaten, but you might have expected a bit more from a 2-5 shot. 

It is noteworthy that Willie Mullins has opted not to stick around in bumpers with Mystical Power and has sent him straight over hurdles, reporting his schooling to have gone well. He won this with Farout in 2021, who led home Tax For Max in a 1-2 for the stable. 

Mystical Power is already being quoted at 33-1 for the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival. 

In Hypotenus he faces a dangerous rival, though. He was considered good enough to take his chance at the 2023 festival, but spoiled his chance in the Triumph Hurdle won by Lossiemouth by hanging right throughout. 

He touched a low of 1.03 in-running on the Betfair exchange when caught late at Cork last time but he probably did too much too soon there and it was his first start since March, so he can be excused for not justifying 1-2 favouritism. Expect to see a different Hypotenus here. 

Samui appears the pick of the three runners for Gordon Elliott, who won this last year with 18-1 shot Royal Eagle, while Dark Note and Your Honor both bring plenty of experience to the table. 

This is a deep novice hurdle and, while Mystical Power might have a big reputation based on his breeding, Hypotenus has done a lot more on the track and looks the one to be on.

What they say 

Andy Slattery, trainer of Dark Note
He's such a versatile horse and a great one for the owners to have. They're having great fun with him and he could run again on Saturday after this. He'll go on the ground and he's in great form. I could see him jumping a fence one day. It's a hot race but I hope he'll be there or thereabouts.

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Gordons Aura, Jay Jay Zee and Samui
Samui is a nice young horse who I've always liked. He was entitled to win at Tramore but he won nicely there and seems to be progressing nicely. It looks a deep race but I wouldn't rule him out. Gordons Aura was a little bit disappointing last time at Bellewstown but has some good form from last season, while Jay Jay Zee seems in good form and will hopefully step up on what he showed at Perth.

James Nash, trainer of Your Honor
He has run well at Galway before, which is always a bonus, and the more rain they get the better for him. Hopefully his experience will stand to him in a novice race like this one.

Willie Mullins, trainer of Mystical Power
He jumps well. It's a tough task for his first day out over hurdles but I wanted to get him jumping as quickly as I could as I feel he has the makings of a nice novice hurdler for the season ahead.

Heavy rain on Sunday likely to see the Galway Races start on soft ground says Moloney

Testing conditions are expected for the opening day of Galway after almost 15mm of rain hit the track on Sunday. 

The ground was officially described as yielding on the jumps track and soft on the Flat course  before the rainfall arrived, but manager Michael Moloney expects it to be slower than that come the opening race at 5.10pm on Monday. 

Moloney said: "Having walked the track on Sunday morning we called it yielding on the National Hunt course and soft on the Flat track. But we have had somewhere between 10-15mm of rain since then and that will slow it down a bit.

"There is no significant amount of rain forecast overnight and, while Monday will be quite damp all day, we're not expecting massive amounts of rainfall either."

Moloney added: "Monday will be damp, but Tuesday is set to be mainly dry. It's looking unsettled on Wednesday, but then Thursday and Friday look like being nice dry days before becoming a bit unsettled again for the weekend. That could obviously change, but that's the way it is looking at the moment."

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