'He's the pick of mine' - Ado McGuinness nominates his best chance from team of seven in Galway feature

Stamina and the ability to cope with testing conditions will be of paramount importance in the pursuit of the winner's cheque for €70,800 as heavy ground will greet the 18 runners for the Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap.

Ado McGuinness is responsible for seven of those, and all bar one of them have form on soft ground. The veteran Saltonstall, a two-time winner of the race, has top weight, but at least we know he handles these extreme conditions given two of his nine wins came on ground officially described as heavy, with another three on soft.

The trainer thinks Saltonstall is the best of his bunch, but perhaps Casanova can prove him wrong. He came within half-a-length of winning the Irish Lincoln on soft to heavy ground at the Curragh in March off a mark of 97 and sneaks in here off a 1lb lower mark.

The class act of the race might prove to be the three-year-old Salt Lake City. He was only 7-1 for last year's Vertem Futurity Trophy won by Auguste Rodin, and it was very testing when he scooted away with a Navan maiden last October.

He is drawn out in stall 12, but a wide draw has been more of a help than a hindrance in recent runnings of this. The last six winners have been drawn ten-18-14-12-17-19. Indeed, the first six home last year all had double-figure draws.

That won't be music to the ears of Johnny Murtagh. He has two live contenders in Blues Emperor and Rahmi, who are drawn next to each other in stalls three and four. Stable jockey Ben Coen has opted to ride Rahmi, which is worth noting.

'Saltonstall is the pick of mine on that ground' - McGuinness

Ado McGuinness has monopolised the big Flat handicaps at Galway in recent years and the trainer had no hesitation whatsoever in nominating Saltonstall as the best of his team of seven.

Saltonstall could save McGuinness a few quid and drive the horsebox to Ballybrit himself. He knows the route inside out and this will be his sixth appearance in a row in this very race. He won back-to-back runnings in 2019 and 2020 and his trainer thinks he can win it again.

McGuinness said: "Saltonstall is the best of mine with the way the ground is. He is a veteran at this stage and he has won twice on heavy ground and a few times on soft as well. He was second in the Irish Lincoln on real soft ground this year, too. He'll handle it fine.

"You're going to need a mile-and-a-half-horse in these sorts of conditions, they will be walking up the hill. It's going to be a bog and a survival of the fittest."

On the rest of his team, the trainer added: "Casanova will go on it too, and he's been very unlucky in these premier handicaps. He deserves to pick one up. Current Option won on heavy ground at Tipperary, but the ground might stretch him over this trip. No More Porter, Celtic Crown and Tosen Wish all prefer a bit of cut, and you'd like it to be too soft rather than too fast for them. But this, I suppose, is extreme ground.

"Cordouan has never gone on this sort of ground before, but he's a big, strong horse and hopefully he will cope with it. I would be worried about him on this extreme of ground, though."

What they say

Johnny Murtagh, trainer of Blues Emperor and Rahmi
It was a tough decision for Ben [Coen] to make but he's decided to stick with Rahmi. He's a good draw and he'll appreciate the cut in the ground. He's going well at home, so hopefully he will run a big race. You need a lot of luck in a race like this, though. Blues Emperor is on a roll and he's won his last two. I think he'll handle the ground too, he likes a bit of cut. Shane [Kelly] gets on well with him. I'm hoping they'll both run well.

Natalia Lupini, trainer of Dunum
It just didn't happen for him at Ascot. He went into the race in great form and he actually came out of it in great form, too. We gave him a few easy weeks afterwards and then started training him for this race. He won very well on soft ground at Limerick on his first start this season, so he won't mind any rain. If he's placed we would be delighted and anything better than that will be a bonus.

Aidan O'Brien, trainer of Salt Lake City
The race could suit him and he ran well in a Group race at Leopardstown the other day. The ground won't be a problem to him either.

Peter Fahey, trainer of Soaring Monarch
He's in great form and I think he will love the ground. He ran a cracker on really soft ground as a three-year-old at Galway, so I think he'll cope fine with the conditions. I know a high draw has won the race for the last few years, but we're out in stall 18 and I'd prefer to be a bit closer to the rail.

Tom Gibney, trainer of Alanya
I think she will handle the ground, although we're guessing as she ran poorly the one time she ran on heavy ground in France. It wasn't a shock when she won at the Curragh as we knew she was good, but we just thought she might need the run. Hopefully there is more to come from her.

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