Jessica Harrington and Shane Foley enjoyed a perfect pre-Galway fillip on Sunday with a dramatic Group One success in Germany through Hotazhell. The 2024 Futurity winner hadn’t scored since his Doncaster success but made almost all the running in Munich to land the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis Bayerisches Zuchtrennen by a nose. The Irish horse rallied to beat the three-year-old Timeforshowcasing, with another English runner, Wimbledon Hawkeye, in third.🇩🇪Grosser Dallmayr-Preis - Bayerisches ZuchtrennenMunich - Groupe 1 - 3 ans et plus - 2000m - 10 Pts - 155 000 €🏆 🥇Hotazhell (m4)(Gb) 🏇Shane Foley🥈Timeforshowcasing🥉Wimbledon Hawkeye📖(Too Darn Hot (Gb) @DarleyEurope - Azenzar (Gb) par Danehill… pic.twitter.com/T21zzMqvDw— French and International Horse Racing (@Vincenzo0612) July 26, 2026
Joseph O’Brien’s Wemightakedlongway raced at the back of the field but never figured and beat just two opponents.It was a first top-level success of the year for the Harrington-Foley team. Their last Group One victory was with Barnavarra in October’s Prix de l’Opéra at Longchamp.“He really got down and fought today. He was really good and I’m really thrilled that he’s won another Group One. He’ll go forward from here,” Harrington said. “He’s a really tough and gutsy horse, it’s how he won the Futurity Trophy when you think about it. He wouldn’t give up and he just had an unfortunate year last year, a nearly year.”It was a first Irish success in the 10-furlong “Zuchtrennen” since a trio of fillies from this country won during a six-year period during the 1990s.Harrington (79) has four starters on Monday’s opening programme to the Galway festival, with Foley riding on three of them.They include Our Boy Bailey, who bids to bounce back from a disappointing effort at Royal Ascot in a juvenile maiden. Runner-up on his debut at Roscommon, Our Boy Bailey could finish only 11th in the Windsor Castle Stakes.Aidan O’Brien won this Galway maiden last year with no less than Constitution River, winner this season of the French Derby and the Eclipse. He has two runners this time and puts first-time cheekpieces on City Of Gold for his second career start.One Number also failed to land a blow in the Windsor Castle but subsequently ran well at Naas and could make his experience count.Joseph O’Brien’s Dancing Saxon has topweight in a seven-furlong handicap but could still be ahead of the ratings judged on her good effort at Naas last week. Harrington and Foley run Motta Alta in this, and their new recruit can exploit a 76-mark after winning at Limerick last month.Former British champion jockey Harry Cobden waits until Tuesday to start the festival and will ride Love Me Tender for his boss JP McManus in a Beginners’ Chase.Cobden first rode at Ballybrit when sixth on Modus in the Galway Plate for Paul Nicholls. Last year he was unplaced on Jazzy Matty in the big chase and finished fourth on Tousnivator in the Galway Hurdle.
