Daniel King records rare Galway Plate and Hurdle double

DANIEL King secured his place in Galway Races folklore by landing a rare Galway Plate and Hurdle double.

The 21-year-old successfully landed the Galway Plate aboard the Willie Mullins trained King Alexander on Wednesday evening, before going on to taste further success in the Galway Hurdle on Ladies Day via the well backed Putapoundinthejar.

Trained by Tony Martin, the six-year-old gelding was getting worked up at start, forcing his trainer to ditch his noseband just seconds before the race was due to start.

However, the change worked wonders, as the horse settled nicely into the race, with King finding a gap as the leaders turned for home. Once in front, he never looked back, flying home up the hill to land the iconic race by over three lengths.

“I’m lost for words. This is magical stuff, the stuff of dreams,” he told RTE Sport shortly after landing the race.

“This horse can be quite buzzy and keen, the main thing was to switch him off, get into a rhythm. We went a nice gallop, settled well, jumped class the whole way round, didn’t miss a beat. Wherever I wanted to go I had the horse to take me there.”

The last time the Galway Plate and Hurdle double was landed by a jockey at the same festival was 42 years ago. Joe Byrne was the man in the saddle back in 1984 aboard Master Player and Tara Lee.

Putyourhandstogther returned at a price of 10/1, with the second placed Thisistheway (22/1), third placed Gameball (14/1) and fourth place Ragman’s Corner (22/1) all double price figures.

El Cairos from the Gordon Elliot stable, the 4/1 favourite who had been at the top of the ante post betting for some time, finished in seventh position five and half lengths behind the winner.