For once, Tony Martin came to the bookies’ rescue as his 16/1 shot Orandi landed Tuesday’s Quinn BMW Mile at Galway.The Meath trainer has proven over decades his ability to hit the layers where it hurts and a capacity to get horses back to the Galway Festival in peak shape, underlining it here with Orandi, who ran third to Dunum in the €120,000 feature last year. Off an 8lb lower rating, the eight-year-old came with a dream late run up the rail under jockey Robbie Colgan to land another big handicap pot. Orandi also won last year’s Irish Lincolnshire at the Curragh. This time, he had too much for the 7/2 favourite Pierre Royal, with Jagged Edge in third and another big fancy, Hardy Warrior, in fourth. Perhaps the greatest illustration of Martin’s capacity to get horses back for Ballybrit was Tudor City’s unrivalled feat in landing the 2019 Galway Hurdle which he repeated three years later. Martin also won the big hurdle contest back-to-back with Thomas Edison and Quick Jack in 2014/2015.However, it was his first victory in the week’s most coveted flat contest. A Group One winner in 2017 with Laganore in Italy, recent years have proved turbulent for Martin, having missed much of 2024 through suspension after a failed drug test from one of his horses.While banned, his horses were trained by his sister Cathy O’Leary, and he received an extra suspension from British authorities for celebrating one of her winners in the Newcastle winner’s enclosure.Orandi has been pivotal to his comeback. “He ran very well in this race last year, finishing third, and appreciates an ease in the ground,” said Martin. “What a rider Robbie Colgan is, he is the most underrated rider in Ireland.“Everyone makes plans and sometimes they don’t come true, but luckily enough this happened for us today, so it was like Mayo on Sunday!”Robbie Colgan after winning the Quinn BMW Mile Handicap with Orandi. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Colgan delivered a notably cool spin in overcoming a double-digit draw, ultimately getting to the rail and pouncing late. “I got about 15 or 20 different instructions, and I don’t think I carried out one of them!” he said. “Coming down the hill, I wasn’t too confident, but then the minute he turned and hit the rising ground it was just a matter of weaving my way through. It was very good.”Jessica Harrington and Shane Foley, Group One winners with Hotazhell in Munich at the weekend, struck again in the juvenile fillies maiden as Samnina pounced late to beat Madman Secretary. It was a satisfying success for Harrington, five years after an embarrassing case of mistaken identity in the same race. Aurora Princess, a three-year-old, was saddled in error instead of her stable companion Alizarine and passed the post first in 2021. Post-race microchip scanning established the blunder for which the trainer apologised. Harrington was subsequently fined €2,000. Foley had a much more uncomfortable time in a later maiden, unseated in the early stages as Sindagan, under Ben Coen, led home a 1-2 for the Aga Khan team. Rising star Dan King got more plaudits following his Beginners Chase victory on Frankie John for trainer Denis Hogan. The Cork jockey (21) had the grey prominent throughout and powered three lengths clear up the hill.Behind him was the champion trio of Jack Kennedy, Paul Townend and Harry Cobden, the level of company King is destined to keep in the future according to many shrewd analysts.“The man on board is as good a rider as there is in the weigh-room,” said Hogan. Tony Martin has also already compared King to a young Ruby Walsh. King rides Martin’s Putapooundinthejar in Thursday’s Galway Hurdle and goes on King Alexander for Willie Mullins in the Plate. The fledgling championship table backs up such billing too with only Darragh O’Keeffe ahead of King’s 15 winners this term.It was a winning debut over fences for Frankie John, who was sold for £275,000 (€320,000) after landing a point-to-point only for the sale to fall through. It has worked out well for Hogan. An attritional handicap chase ultimately went to the Andrew McNamara-trained Tell Us This, who scored at 12/1. On punditry duty for RTÉ, McNamara was typically composed just seconds after Conor Stone-Walsh drove the winner out to beat runner-up Herja.It was a first festival success as a trainer for McNamara, who rode Ballyholland to land the Galway Plate in 2009. Dublin trainer Ado McGuinness saddled first, second and fourth in a seven-furlong handicap, and in the right order for most punters too, with 7/2 favourite Eddie G emerging on top.Tuesday’s official attendance of 13,059 was marginally down on last year’s turnout of 13,306.