Hopes high that Galway will continue trend in increased attendances for week-long festival

Irish Times

18 hours ago

The
Galway races
kick-off on Monday with fingers tightly crossed that the weather gods play ball enough to encourage bumper attendance levels at perhaps Irish racing's most distinctive week of the year.
Horse Racing Ireland's
recently released half-yearly statistics showed a 6.9 per cent increase on overall crowd figures at Ireland's racecourses in the first six months of 2025.
Admittedly a quarter of that came in just five days at the Punchestown festival, where a tally of 136,651 was up a massive 15 per cent on 2024, a hike hardly coincidental with superb weather.
The odds on a week in the west of Ireland enjoying similar good fortune are probably too long for most punters who will send about €1 million a day washing around the Ballybrit betting ring.
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The Galway authorities are predicting a mainly dry outlook until, sure enough, rain develops in time for Thursday's traditional Ladies' Day highlight.
It's nearly 20 years since 46,000 squeezed into their Ballybrit finery for that date at the height of Celtic Tiger excess, when well over 200,000 would regularly cram into Galway's seven days.
In contrast, last year's overall attendance of 116,374 was a significant slip from the previous year's 122,367, although largely in line with recent overall trends.
Nevertheless, a festival with an over 150-year history remains high-profile and will have all eyes turning west for 53 races worth €2.1 million and containing historic prizes such as Wednesday's Galway Plate and the following day's big Hurdle.
Each of those is worth €270,000 but last year's statistic that 30 different trainers were successful during the week's action underlines how the festival offers a stage to not just the sport's big guns.
A counter argument to that could be how a lot of the races on the increasingly rare mixed cards simply don't figure on the big name's radar.
Ultimately,
Willie Mullins
was still the festival's leading trainer last year, just ahead of
Joseph O'Brien
. It's a role he has filled since 2016 when taking over from
Dermot Weld
as 'King of Ballybrit'.
Sure enough, Mullins and O'Brien are at the top of ante-post lists for Monday's €110,000 feature, the Connacht Hotel Handicap.
Trainer Emmet Mullins has enjoyed success at the Galway Festival is recent years. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho
Widely regarded as Ireland's 'amateur Derby' Mullins has won it five times in the last eight years. In the same time frame his brother Tony was successful with Princess Zoe (2020) while the champion jump trainer's nephew Emmet scored two years ago with Teed Up.
The latter, in association with the Mee ownership, has become a big festival player in recent years and he has a trio of hopefuls this time, including the fancied Toll Stone under leading amateur John Gleeson.
Nevertheless, his uncle's 50-1 shocker with Sirius a year ago underlines how anything the 'King' runs in Ballybrit must be respected.
This time he has two shots at it and Patrick Mullins, who finally broke his duck in the race aboard Echoes In Rain three years ago, is aboard Too Bossy For Us. Jody Townend, successful on Great White Shark in 2029, is on Plontier.
There will be no more popular winner, though, than the sole Weld hope, Falcon Eight. He will be ridden by Paddy Smullen, son of the late great champion jockey Pat, in a partnership that evokes memories of so many famous Ballybrit victories.
It is 61 years since a teenage Weld won the race as a rider on Ticonderoga. Four years ago he trained the winner for an eighth time with Coltor. To have his former ally's son win it on his charge would surely rank with anything in Weld's groundbreaking Galway career.
There is a cross-channel hopeful in Wahraan, trained in Yorkshire by Jessica Bedi, and Comfort Zone is one of a quartet of runners for champion owner JP McManus.
From a punting perspective though this could give
Gordon Elliott
a first shot at filling in some Galway festival big race blanks this week.
The Co Meath trainer holds a joint-record four victories in the Galway Plate. Down Memory Lane is among the favourites to give him the record on his own in the week's big steeplechase.
In contrast Elliott has yet to land a Galway Hurdle despite throwing over 30 runners at the race over the years. Runner-up last season with Ndaawi, Elliott also finished second three years in a row between 2012-14. Dirar was twice third in 2010 and 2011.
Shajack's third two years ago is the closest Elliott has got to landing Monday's big amateur prize but Familiar Dreams could put that right.
Originally bought for just 4,000 Guineas, she was sold to Qatar Racing for €310,000 after a spectacular bumper career and has since won at Grade Three level over flights for her new ownership.
Back on the level, she could prove very competitive off a mark of 93 and Josh Williamson takes a valuable 7lbs allowance off.