SHARK STRIKES: The Bagenalstown trainer told everyone that Hewick would be hard to beat in the Galway Plate.

Bought for just €850, Hewick duly won at 16/1 and now goes for the Kerry National at Listowel, and possibly the Cheltenham Gold Cup next March. The Shark also won the feature race on Saturday at Galway with Hallowed Star, a £7,000 purchase.

Following on from the same trainer’s Grade 1 success last year with Skyace (£600), you could say the Shark has done more to promote racing and racehorse ownership than any marketing campaign could ever achieve.

BEATING THE ODDS: And it wasn’t just Shark Hanlon who struck a blow or two for the small trainers at Galway. Take a bow Peter Fahey, Matthew Smith and Emmet Mullins.

From 15 runners during the week, Peter Fahey from Monasterevin, Co Kildare, had four winners, two seconds, a third and two fourths. Matthew Smith (Kilmessan, Co Meath) had three winners from 22 runners.

Fair enough, Emmet Mullins can’t really be classed as a small trainer any more, having won the Aintree Grand National last April, but he doesn’t have a big team of horses.

His strike-rate at Galway of three winners (and two second places) from 11 runners confirms how good he is at targeting the big meetings.

MEE FIRST: Racehorse owners Pearse and Annette Mee from Foxrock, Co Dublin, have not much more than a dozen horses in training and their trainers are instructed by their son Michael Mee to aim them all at the Galway Races each year.

The result? From 11 runners, the Mees had four winners, two seconds and a third. It’s not as easy as it sounds. J.P McManus had 21 runners and no winner – the first time the champion owner has drawn a blank at Ballybrit since 2008.

SAVING MONEY: The seven-day figure of 116,720 was down 9% on 2019. This is slightly better than the figures for the rest of the country’s tracks for the first six months of this year. The interest is still there – people are just being a bit more careful with their spending these days.

IN OUR THOUGHTS: The 19-year-old flat jockey Wesley Joyce remains in intensive care after a fall in a flat race at Galway. He has significant chest injuries and is on a ventilator though said to be in a stable condition and able to communicate with family.

From Moyross in Co Limerick, the teenager has made a strong start to his career. He is based with trainer Johnny Murtagh and has ridden 20 winners in just over a year. Fingers crossed he makes a full recovery.