The influence of jump racing’s big guns is stamped all over Wednesday’s Tote Galway Plate, although there could some betting value in sticking with controversial trainer Charles Byrnes and his shot at making headlines for the right reasons. Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott have four runners apiece in the historic €270,000 feature; Henry de Bromhead has three. Together they make up half the field. In contrast, Byrnes is solely reliant on Reverend Hubert. The versatile 10-time career winner is starting over fences for the first time in two years, but might prove up to upsetting the odds.Byrnes is almost as renowned for having odds in his favour when hitting the bookmakers as he is for a disciplinary record perhaps charitably described as chequered. Probably the most notorious incident was his six-month licence suspension on the back of the Viking Hoard scandal when the Byrnes-trained runner was “nobbled” with a sedative at Tramore, Co Waterford, in 2018. There was no evidence of Byrnes being involved in doping the horse or the horse being laid to lose in betting markets, but he was judged seriously negligent in his supervision.The Byrnes-trained Redwood Queen was at the centre of a furore at Wexford last year when the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board charged the trainer’s son Philip of deliberately jumping off the mare at the final flight of a hurdle race. It took until February for him to be cleared.Philip Byrnes must sit out this week’s action after being suspended for 21 days at Limerick in May for dangerous riding on another of his father’s runners. Last month, the Byrnes-trained Glin Road Boy was suspended from racing for 60-days under non-trier rules at Sligo.On the flip side is more than 25 years of abundant evidence that there are few more astute “target” trainers. Top-class winners such as the Stayers champion Solwhit are interspersed with handicap victories in the Kerry National and the Troytown.The Plate is missing, but Reverend Hubert is something of an unknown quantity despite an extensive career on the flat and over hurdles. He won two of his four chases starts in 2024. That has him on a 142 mark. He comes here on the back of a hurdles win in Cork and success on the flat at the Curragh. Sure to stay, if his jumping holds up, Byrnes might pull off an improbably ecclesiastical but outstanding training feat. Perhaps the biggest unknown factor in this Plate is Elliott’s apparent number one hope, Nowwhatdoyouthink. It’s the Grade Three winner’s first start for Elliott since moving from Ray Hackett. Considering Elliott has landed the Plate five times in the last 10 years there could be plenty to come from him.Funiculi Funicula is the Mullins number one with Paul Townend on board, although both Ballygunner Castle and Spread Boss Ted will have their supporters too. Darragh O’Keeffe has opted for Downmexicoway for De Bromhead. There would be no more popular winner, though, than the Ballybrit stalwart Jesse Evans, runner up last year and twice runner up in the Galway Hurdle.It’s 36 years since Kiichi was the first of four wins for Dermot Weld in the Plate. Weld has ceded the “King of Ballybrit” title to Mullins, although he can underline that he still knows the Galway winning formula with both his runners on Wednesday.Abbotsford must concede experience to most in the amateur rider’s maiden and overcome an outside draw, but might ultimately prove to be just better than this opposition. Weld’s Amenita has a first handicap start over a mile and the trainer is utilising Reese Holohan’s 7lb claim.Al Arrivee and Mr Hollywood represent Mullins in the opener. The latter was runner up in the 2023 German derby, finished third to Illinois at Ascot last month, and has a spin over flights under his belt.