'She's been a dream mare' - Declan Queally on his Thyestes day chances, the DRF and Cheltenham

Niall Tierney got the latest on Declan Queally's quality team, including Rocky's Diamond who bids to defend his crown in the Grade 2 Galmoy Hurdle on Thursday at Gowran Park.

He also reveals his hopes for Cheltenham, the DRF and describes what it's like to have achieved Grade 1 success.

Thyestes Day

I really like Thyestes Day. You see a lot of local people - people from Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, and Carlow and they go and make a day of it.

It’s a big, big, big day for us down here. I’m looking forward to going. Hopefully we’ll have a bit of luck. If it was half as good as last year, it’ll be very good.

Rocky’s Diamond

I’m happy with him. Leopardstown at Christmas was a small bit of a mess. He didn’t enjoy it at all and he raced on his nerves. He even ran to post keenly with me. I wasn’t happy with him at all.

We will probably change tactics with him and ride him a bit more reserved. He likes this track and he won here last year. I’m sorry I ran him at Christmas in Leopardstown, but there’s no reason as to why he won’t go over fences again after the Galmoy Hurdle.

We just said we’d go back for that race since he won it last year, but he could end up going back over fences in the spring again.

He’s not an over-big horse, so maybe over fences on slightly better ground would suit him. We’ll be mixing in between Grade 2s and Grade 3s, as that’s the kind of level he is, and hopefully maybe picking up a race while Cheltenham is on and staying away from Grade 1s from now on.

Mozzy’s Sister

She's been a great sport for the syndicate, and they’re getting some massive days out for her.

The lads love these kinds of days, we always make a plan and the boys get a bus up to the races, she’s after winning them €100,000 and she’s after winning four races as well as the point-to-point.

Ah, for a mare that wasn’t overly dear for a syndicate - she's been a dream mare.

Well Del

He’s a good, tough, staying, hardy kind of horse.

Wouldn’t set the world alight at home, but both times we’ve run him he’s ran with real credit, and the blinkers make a difference. We have a big asset in Michael Kenneally for that race - he’s a very good 7lb claimer and he takes 4lb off him in that race.

So I’m delighted to have Mikey for that race. Mike is connected to the yard, which is great.

Infinity Succes

She's a sister to a Grade 1 winner, Balder Succes, that Alan King had. We’ve found working her in blinkers has made a big difference to her, so we’re going to run her in the blinkers.

I’d say she’ll put up a good bit better showing than she did in her Academy Hurdle, and she won’t be far off.

Stable Star Update and Horses for the future

I’ll Sort That

Yeah, all is good. We will skip the DRF and he’s had just a week in the field . He’s just been slow cantering this week, and we’ll start back working next week again.

We’ll get a nice flow of work all the way up to Cheltenham. We just said we’d have a small break after Naas. That way, we can have him ripe going there (to Cheltenham).

It was an unbelievable day and a day we’ll never forget, and hopefully we can get another like that now.

Adaboy Mushy

He’s a nice horse, a nice big, big horse around 17 hands by Blue Bresil. He works fairly well, so I hope when he turns out that he’s going to be fairly hard to beat.

Tackletommywoowoo

I think Tackletommywoowoo has been a horse who has done very well for us.

He won three on the bounce and he beat Good Girl Kathleen in Cork. Then we said we’d give him a break. Since he’s been back working now again in December and January, he’s working like a very good horse.

I’ll be expecting him to run very well in the DRF.

Carrigmoorna Beech

She’s been a bit disappointing since winning last year. She’s had a couple of little issues since.

Winning the Grade 1 Ballymore Novice Hurdle, beating long-time fellow amateur jockey Patrick Mullins

It was kind of a funny one - a race like that. He wins most bumpers, and I’ve finished second to him a lot of times over the years, but the fact that it happened to be him again there on the outside of me in the professional race was strange.

It was nice to get the better of him on the day. He was the first man to shake my hand afterwards when we came back into the weigh room, and he said, “Very well done, that’s hard done,” so fair play to him for that.

The reaction since winning your first-ever Grade 1

The reaction has been unbelievable. No matter where I go, I went into the local chipper the other night and I had a couple of people shake my hand - so it’s kind of crazy. Things are getting a bit back to normal now, thank God.

The amount of people that have congratulated me across the board, even Gordon Elliott went out of his way to shake my hand. Henry de Bromhead as well - he waited for me to finish my interview to shake my hand, and it means an awful lot because those lads know how hard it is to win those Grade 1s.