The week of the Festivals
GALWAY RACES DAY 1
So sometime in March at Cheltenham, you might have thought to yourself, “I’ve got a spare grand from a sensible punt; the weather will have warmed up by the time of my next break in July - where should an honest racing man splash out? Goodwood or what about Galway?”
Sadly, for this week, it is almost too late for either, although Goodwood is still doable. It just requires a teenage son, fresh from university, who has yet to discover drink and would be happy to visit Chichester Cathedral, whilst you race!
As regards Galway, let me whet your appetite for next year.
The Galway Racing Festival—properly the Galway Races Summer Festival—is seven days of racing, fashion, networking and heroic levels of socialising at Ballybrit. It starts today. The official highlights are the Galway Plate on Wednesday, the Galway Hurdle and Ladies Day on Thursday, and the family-focused mayhem of Mad Hatter’s Day on Sunday.
The Galway Premium Festival Package is around €60, including admission, reserved grandstand seating and access to the private Winning Post Bar.
Today is the connoisseur’s considered choice for “Best Day”. You’re still reasonably fit, the liver is mercifully undamaged, the racing is decent but comparatively relaxed, it is evening racing so I’ll assume you took a morning flight, checked in to your digs, did an area recce, and then arrived on course to settle down to the real business. On Monday night, you can actually inspect the horses, reach the bar and have a conversation.
Tuesday has been reinvented as “Tribes Tuesday” and is carefully aimed squarely at Galway’s clubs and communities. I have never had this experience, but I suspect it will be a more local, energetic crowd than used to be the traditional quiet “warming up” Tuesday. Then on Wednesday it really gets going. The Galway Plate provides serious racing, the crowd is lively, and there is a Defcon-2 level of Chester dressing up. By Thursday this will have become Defxcon 1. Depending on where you stand, it’s like Ascot vs Aintree in terms of peacocking-and-prosecco intensity. Thursday is less a race meeting than Galway’s equivalent of Davos - but fashion rather than finance driven. Many people there will never see a horse, and forgetting Ascot Royal dress codes and all the rest of that nonsense, arriving at Ballybrit dressed casually can make you feel conspicuously underdressed. Friday and Saturday are the party days. The age demographic drops like a stone, and you’re old if you’re fifty plus. If your joy is racing analysis, choose earlier in the week; if it’s a large night out that happens to begin at a racecourse, the world is your Lobster, as they say in Peckham. I don’t think I know any Brits who have done all seven days - even Alastair Down opted out of one of them - but Sunday is more relaxed, less showy, better for families and ideal for anyone who can not stand queuing for a drink, or being told that a fascinator is a hat.
But don’t assume the racetrack defines your Galway experience. In reality, there are two festivals: a horse‑filled festival at Ballybrit and another when the crowd returns to central Galway. Shop Street, the Latin Quarter, Quay Street, and the West End come alive again, so don’t expect an early night.
If this interests you for next year (and I’m assuming that JP or Magnier haven’t invited you to their boxes), then let me give you a couple of important tips: don’t casually drive to Ballybrit. The traffic and post-racing taxi demand can be brutal. There is an official shuttle service that leaves from outside the Skeff in Eyre Square for €10 return. Book accommodation and dinner obscenely early, as in, when you’ve finished reading this! The Irish hoteliers can teach their Cheltenham opposite numbers a thing or two about Festival pricing! Equally spontaneous dining for more than four chums on Wednesday or Thursday is optimistic.
Also remember that there is no such thing as bad weather - just poor clothing choices and rain can do funny things to heels, patent leather and suede. There’s nothing glamorous about a single-shoed lady limping out after a day at the races. If you’re going to think about using your phone to talk to Fitzdares - do it at the hotel and get BOG. The mobile reception at Ballybrit, makes two tin cans and a ball of string look useful. Finally, all Galway’s handicaps are deeply competitive; a confident stranger in a bar is not necessarily carrying privileged intelligence - and he will demand a drink win, lose or draw!
Talking of drink, try the Connacht Hotel’s Bar Solo after racing. Coopers at the Galmont is a tad smarter, and The Oyster Bar at the Hardiman is central, polished and explicitly running Race Week cocktails and entertainment. However, if you’re on the prowl, then away with you to Tigh Neachtain (above) or O’Connell’s.
Now all we have to do is find a spare grand!
17:10 - Galmont Hotel & The Galway Bay Hotel Novice Hurdle (4YO only) 2m ½f - 11 run
WITCHES FAMILIAR - MINO DES MOTTES
17:40 - EASYFIX Iggy Daly Handicap Hurdle (4YO plus) 2m ½f - 20 run
MART LANE - TIMURSHAH - LET’S GO LA FICHAD
18:10 - Eventus Irish EBF (C & G) Maiden (2YO only) 7f - 8 run
ONE NUMBER - HMAS PERTH
18:40 - Connacht Hotel (Q.R.) Handicap (70-100) (Premier Handicap) (4YO plus) 2m 1f - 20 run
TOUNSIVATOR - TOO BOSSY FOR US - FILEY BAY
19:15 - Clayton Hotel Galway Handicap (3YO only) 7f - 15 run
DANCING SAXON - EXPERT DANCER
19:50 - Gra Chocolates Handicap (3YO only) 1m 4½f - 15 run
DARIUS DARK - NERMAL - SHARKEYSBOY
20:20 - Ray Dooley Monami Construction Flat Race (4YO only) 2m ½f - 13 run
Dutch TEOFIL - POWER OF KNOWLEDGE 4 pts