2023 Galway Festival Tips on July 31st

The 2023 Galway Festival begins on Monday afternoon and racing fans in Ireland have seven days of stunning races to look forward to during this popular summer meeting.

We've taken a look through the card on day one of the Galway Festival and picked out our top four betting tips.

Galway Festival 2023 Day 1 Tips

Race 1 - Novice Hurdle Tips

Willie Mullins unleashes Annie Power foal, Mystical Power in a hurdles race for the first time in Monday's opener. This will be no easy task for Mark Walsh's mount though, with both John McConnell, Jimmy Nash and Andrew Slattery throwing interesting four-year-olds into the ring.

Gordon Elliott runs three against the Mullins hot-pot, including SAMUI, who finished eighth in the Grade Two bumper at Aintree last sprint. Jack Kennedy's mount ran out an impressive winner over hurdles at Tramore in June, kicking on after an error at the last to win quite cosily. The form of that race has worked out well and Samui looks strong enough to contend again, despite that seven-pound penalty.

Race 3 - Claregalwayhotel.ie Maiden Tips

Superpower owners, Tabor and Smith have only managed to land this maiden twice in the last decade, both times with 4/9 favourites. Mythology brings a high level of form to the table, but he could prove vulnerable on the front end, while the form of Air Commander's maiden at Gowran Park looks fairly suspect.

I'm happy to take the O'Brien runners on with SEA THE POLARIS, who makes his debut for the in-form Paddy Twomey. Billy Lee's mount is by a top sire in Sea The Stars and the first foal out of a French filly who claimed a Listed prize on just her third life-time start. Twomey has struck with six of his last 12 runners, and two of those wins were supplied by debutantes. Sea The Polaris could be worth siding with.

Race 4 - Connacht Hotel Handicap Tips

British raiders have enjoyed limited success in Monday's main event, but I still fancy we'll see a big run from Ian Williams' runner, ZINC WHITE. Williams five-year-old made it three-from-three in soft-ground handicaps by claiming a shock victory in the Chester Plate earlier in the season, beating hot-favourite Novel Legend under Jim Crowley.

Ian Williams' five-year-old struggled on quicker going at Royal Ascot and was taken out of a big handicap at Newbury on Irish Oaks day when the ground dried up. Given how lightly-raced he is, Zinc White could still be open to further improvement. He can give young jockey, Mr. T Power Roche - who has rode a bumper winner and four chase winners during his short career - a good spin.

Race 6 - Eventus Handicap Tips

Shane Foley and Jessica Harrington have won the last two editions of this handicap and I wouldn't be surprised to see their runner, YOUCRACKMEUP run better than her odds would suggest. Having shown nothing in three maiden starts, Harrington's filly ran out an impressive winner on her handicap debut at Roscommon back in June, where first-time blinkers were cited as a reason for her sudden improvement.

Youcrackmeup then took on her elders in a two-mile handicap at Limerick and was only passed by 125-rated hurdler Tronador in the closing stages. Dropping back to a mile-and-a-half should suit and a low draw won't bother Foley, who guided Irish Lullaby to victory from this very stall 12 months ago.