Galway Horse Racing Tips for Monday

Galway's seven-day Summer Festival gets underway on Monday and will involve a mixture of flat and jumps racing throughout the week.

Here are the latest horse racing betting tips for the opening day's card from the Racing Post's Gary Savage.

Monday's Galway Horse Racing Betting Tips and Odds

17:25 Galway - Malbay Madness - 7/2
18:40 Galway - Enchanted Garden - 4/1
19:10 Galway - Shajak - 10/1

17:25 Galway - Malbay Madness - 7/2

The rain that arrived on Saturday morning will have been welcomed by connections of MALBAY MADNESS, who excelled at this meeting last year, albeit on the Flat.

He will surely have been primed for this meeting after running so well in two flat handicaps last year.

Having just failed to win a 1m 1/2f handicap on Wednesday, he made no mistake over the same course and distance four days later.

Those runs came off a rating of 78, which, not even allowing for any improvement, makes his hurdle mark of 108 look extremely workable.

He hasn't set the world alight in his four hurdle starts, running keely on a couple of occasions, but they have not been poor runs by any means and he has certainly shown enough to think he can win this.

It is noteworthy that in March he was sold to Pearse and Annette Mee, who target this meeting and have plenty of success here, and he seems sure to go very close.

18:40 Galway - Enchanted Garden - 4/1

Although winners of this three-year-old handicap sometimes sneak in under the radar, it's been a decent race for those near the head of the betting recently and Anthony Mullins' hat-trick seeker, ENCHANTED GARDEN, looks to have plenty going for her.

A rise of 12lb for winning an apprentice handicap at Leopardstown last time may seem harsh, but a quick watch of that race makes you think she could have been put up even more.

From a wide draw she never got any cover, but arrived at the 2f marker travelling all over the field, and the race was settled very quickly once her jockey asked her for an effort.

This race was immediately nominated for the filly's next race after that impressive run, and having Seamie Heffernan in the saddle will be no hindrance.

Trainer Anthony Mullins is a remarkable 3-7 at Galway in the last five years and the selection should be able to take this ordinary race.

19:10 Galway - Shajak - 10/1

A rare British raider in this 2m1f flat handicap, with Harry Fry's classy Metier carrying top weight, unless we get further rain it won't be soft enough for him to show his best however.

It takes a very good horse to win this valuable race, with the likes of Whisky Sour, Princess Zoe and Echoes In Rain having triumphed recently, and last year's third SHAJAK, fits the bill.

JP McManus' five-year-old was last seen finishing fifth in a Listed Hurdle at Listowel in September, a run full of promise for his future in that discipline.

His last flat race was in this contest last year when third, beaten a length, by the reopposing Teed Up on heavy ground.

Shajak took some rousting half a mile from home in those sticky conditions, but came home very strongly.

Still only five years old, there should be plenty more to come, and it would not be a surprise if connections were thinking about a repeat bid straight after that contest.

The selection is 6lb better off with last year's winner, and with the better underfoot conditions likely to help and blinkers enlisted, Gordon Elliott's gelding should go close.

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.