18 have been declared for Wednesday’s Guinness Kerry National at Listowel.
The €200,000 contest is the showpiece event of the week at the Harvest festival.
The 5-1 early favourite is the Guinness Galway Plate hero King Alexander, trained by Willie Mullins. Daniel King has retained the ride.
Recent history is against him, however, as no horse has completed the double since Life Of A Lord won both races for a certain Aidan O’Brien in 1995.
King Alexander’s owner John Neocleous is riding the crest of a wave after his Highwayman, trained by Joseph O’Brien, landed the St Leger at Doncaster recently.
Last year’s winning trainer via Spanish Harlem, Mullins will field six runners.
Stable jockey Paul Townend rides joint top-weight Funiculi Funicula who started the 9-2 favourite in Galway but failed to get competitive. He showed good form in the spring, however, winning twice, including a Listed event at Punchestown.
Spread Boss Ted (Brian Hayes), Uncle Pat (Sean Cleary-Farrell), Ballygunner Castle (Danny Mullins) and You Oughta Know (Josh Williamson) complete the Closutton sextet.
Guinness Galway Plate form is a feature among those prominent in the betting for Listowel’s big race.
Current 15-2 joint-second favourite Nowwhatdoyouthink ran fourth, beaten 3¾ lengths, in the Plate on his debut for the Gordon Elliott team and is entitled to improve from the outing. He was Grade 1 placed and a Grade 3 winner for former trainer Ray Hackett. Kerry’s Jack Kennedy will ride.
Also around 15-2 in the early betting, Downmexicoway, representing Henry de Bromhead, finished fifth at Ballybrit and will be the mount of Darragh O’Keeffe, the season’s leading jockey to date.
From the Paul Nolan stable, Conyers Hill (Alan O’Sullivan) ran second in the Plate, finishing strongly up the hill and the slightly longer trip here may suit. He has finished runner-up in his last three starts, all valuable contests.
Will The Wise (Keith Donoghue) finished in midfield at Galway but is better judged on excellent performances in the spring when second at the Cheltenham Festival and winning the Grade 3 Randox Topham Chase over the Grand National fences at Aintree.
Kings Hill was a local winner for trainer Paul Gilligan in the Guinness Galway Blazers last time and arrives here in the best form of his career. JJ Slevin maintains the partnership.
Joint top-weight French Dynamite finished third in this race event in 2025 for trainer Eric McNamara and the veteran tuned up for his latest attempt at Galway recently. Amateur rider Joey Dunne will claim 7lbs.
McNamara had a winner at Listowel on the first day of the week-long festival and will saddle three runners with Doctor Ken (Mark Walsh) and Weveallbeencaught (Sean Flanagan) also on his team.
Maurice Carroll, Chairman of Listowel Races, said: “We are delighted to see such strong support from trainers and owners for the Guinness Kerry National this Wednesday. It is the centrepiece of our Harvest Festival, anchoring a tradition that stretches back to 1964 when Guinness came on board to sponsor this iconic race.
“Looking at the depth of talent among the declarations, we are set for another classic chapter that brings generations of racegoers, farmers, and visitors to Listowel every September to celebrate this wonderful social and sporting tradition.”
