Horse Racing Tips: Himalayan can hit the heights at Galway

We have a busy week of top-class racing action ahead of us and Monday kicks us off with Day 1 of the Galway Festival, as well as four meetings across Britain. 

Southwell is the first to go and is followed by Ayr, before Galway, Windsor and Wolverhampton take us through the evening. Galway provides the day’s best action so we’ve picked our three strongest selections to follow, which include a handicap debutant for Ger Lyons that looks particularly interesting. 

Horse Racing Odds

18:00 Galway – Viking Invasion @ 5/1 

Watch out for Joseph O’Brien’s VIKING INVASION at Galway, as his latest effort indicates he should be getting off the mark sooner rather than later.  

A disappointing ninth of 14 runners on debut at the Curragh, that run wasn’t much to write home about but significant improvement was on display when a narrow second at Naas last time out. 

He clearly appreciated the step up to 7f and the form looks rock-solid, with the winner going on to finish second in Group 3 company next time. Truth Be Told was half-a-length or so behind him that day and there’s unlikely to be much between them once again. 

That being said, both got off to slow starts and recovered well so Viking Invasion appears to be the one to side with at the prices. 

19:10 Galway – Enfranchise @ 11/2 

This 0-100 handicap offers a rather unique opportunity for Shark Hanlon’s ENFRANCHISE to return to handicaps, after a successful foray into Listed company.  

She was a very comfortable winner of a 1m6f Listed event at Gowran in May and it would appear that connections were keen to maintain her current handicap mark as she hasn’t been seen since. 

Racing prominently throughout, Hanlon’s mare saw the trip out well that day and pulled clear to win by two lengths. There were a few useful sorts in behind her that day and the form certainly holds up well in the context of this race. 

The daughter of Invincible Spirit won a maiden hurdle here over 2m1f and she has every chance of getting the trip in this sphere. There are few better amateur riders than Derek O’Connor and she’s entitled to go close with him on board. 

19:45 Galway – Himalayan Heights @ 13/2 

This is a ferociously competitive handicap and there are several runners making their debuts in this sphere that are the most interesting. Ger Lyons and Colin Keane combine with 85-rated HIMALAYAN HEIGHTS and he has some very solid maiden form to his name. 

The son of Camelot has had just four starts to date and his second-place finishes behind Birdman and Highbury read particularly well, as both went on to run excellent races in the Group 2 Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot. 

He made no mistake when getting off the mark on soft ground at Tipperary when last seen and the result never looked in doubt. The handicapper has allotted him an opening mark of 85 which shouldn’t be beyond him on the evidence we’ve seen to date. 

It would be surprising if there wasn’t plenty of improvement to come from this unexposed and lightly raced sort and further success could be on the cards here. 

Horse Racing Tips from Betfred Insights.