Joseph O'Brien achieves something else his father hasn't with landmark win in feature courtesy of Mexicali Rose

It's a difficult thing to do, but Joseph O'Brien once again claimed a landmark his esteemed father Aidan has not yet managed by landing the featured Colm Quinn BMW Mile when Mexicali Rose swept home with a flourish to secure young rider Wayne Hassett the biggest win of his career.

The eldest O'Brien son has twice plundered the Melbourne Cup, a race that continues to elude the Ballydoyle maestro, and he added the €120,000 Tuesday highlight of the Galway Races to that distinguished list thanks in no small part to a canny effort from his 18-year-old apprentice.

Drawn in stall one, Mexicali Rose missed the kick so she needed a bounce of the ball to get off the rail and get a clear passage into the straight.

Hassett had half a dozen horses in front of him as they took the final, crucial bend, but he extricated himself from the pocket to challenge down the middle of the track between eventual runner-up Norwalk Havoc and third home This Songisforyou.

Mexicali Rose, a 12-1 shot who had won once in eight starts for Ralph Beckett before being acquired at a cost of 42,000gns in December, came home with purpose to prevail by a neck and a length and a half.

A four-year-old who is a sister to the stable's smart three-year-old Galen, she is owned by ITV Racing presenter Kevin Blake, who is also a race-planner for the trainer. It was also the first time any of the O'Brien family names appeared on the prestigious mile.

"It is a very tough race to win like all the big handicaps at Galway, but particularly this one," O'Brien said.

"It's a great pot and I'm delighted for Wayne, he gave her a fantastic ride. He has been with me since he started and is very good value for his claim.

"The stiff mile with a bit of juice in the ground suited her well, and in Galway you either get the gaps or you don't. She got the rub of the green today."

Mexicali Rose is declared for Thursday's Listed Corrib Stakes, and O'Brien suggested he would see how she comes out of this before deciding on going again.

For Hassett – who endured a day to forget at Killarney recently when he crashed through the rail with the race at his mercy – this was a landmark victory.

"I'm buzzing on the inside but I don't show emotion much," he joked. "I'm pretty sure I will in a couple of hours time when it kicks in a bit more. I don't know what to say really, but just thanks to Joseph and Kevin Blake. I'm delighted to get this under my belt."

Mahler's roll continues

Adrian Keatley returned to Ireland with a bang as his Gale Mahler ran out a commanding winner of the 2m½f Listed novice hurdle under Henry Brooke, the mare completing a sixth victory in a row.

Winning trainer Keatley spent six successful years training in Ireland, becoming a Classic winning handler when Jet Setting landed the Irish 1,000 Guineas in 2016 before upping sticks and switching base to Malton.

Since finishing fourth in a Sedgefield bumper on debut, Gale Mahler hasn't looked back, landing two bumpers and now four hurdle races.

The five-year-old ranged alongside leader Napper Tandy and 6-4 favourite Gaucher at the penultimate flight and put in an enormous leap before shooting to the front and galloping to a powerful ten-length success at odds of 9-2 with Le Coq Hardi coming through for second.

Keatley said: "We had to step her up in grade to see what we had and she was very impressive. We can now go home and start making proper plans."

British raider Gale Mahler (Henry Brooke) makes it six wins in a row

Britain was on the scoreboard again in the penultimate 7f handicap when Reidh got up late to justify 10-3 favouritism under Oisin Orr to record a special success for trainer Richard Fahey.

Fahey said: “I felt nervous today, my heart was thumping! To have a winner here with the lads is great. I started off training for Tommy Staunton around 28 years ago and he’s since passed. He’s John’s [Staunton, owner] brother. The lads have kept with us for years.

“It means an awful lot. Tommy found the gaps for us there.”

Sergeant delivers

Thecompanysergeant deservedly got off the mark over fences at the sixth time of asking, when showing a gutsy attitude to repel Merlin Giant in the closing stages of the 2m2f beginners' chase for trainer Denis Hogan.

Ridden by Rachael Blackmore, the 6-4 favourite was still travelling well coming away from the last but had a few lengths to make up on the leaders. However, he stuck on dourly to hunt down runner-up Merlin Giant and come away a length and three-quarters to the good.

After finishing a close fourth to Spillane's Tower in Grade 1 company in March, Hogan is hopeful the winner can make his mark at a higher level.

He said: "We had been thinking of going for the Galway Plate so he would have wanted to be doing that in this grade and had finished fourth in a Grade 1 three runs ago, six lengths behind Spillane's Tower.

"The Plate was in my head all summer, but when he was beaten in Tipperary, I had a chat with Martin [Cooney, owner] and we decided to stay in calmer waters.

"He's now still a novice for the season so we'll exploit that. We're hoping he will mix it in graded company for the winter."

Attendance on day two was marginally up at 13,680 compared to 13,506 in 2023, following on from a boost of 356 to 17,074 on the opening night.

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