Monday
IT’S the last Monday in July folks, meaning the racing circus moves onto Ballybrit for the next seven days for the biggest Festival in the industry.
Seven magical days that projects our game to the front and back pages of the daily newspapers, to radio stations all over the land and of course both RTÉ and TG4 are covering the meeting live.
All this is good because hopefully it will encourage new people to come racing or maybe pencil in a day or two for next year.
As the great JFK said: “All politics is local,” and there is one dark cloud hanging over the track this evening and that is for the Galway footballers who were beaten in the All-Ireland Final yesterday by Armagh.
Sure, aren’t the locals lucky to have the Festival, as it will help the wound heal faster.
A crowd of over 17,000 turn out this evening with the weather playing ball, we witness some great stories.
The feature race The Connacht Hotel (Q.R.) race goes to Englishman and corinthian rider David Dunsdon riding his own filly Sirius to a 50/1 success. We hadn’t seen David for the last four years as he took time off to start a family and he described the race as “the Melbourne Cup for amateurs” and was thankful to both trainer Willie Mullins and agent Harold Kirk for going out a buying him the filly when David asked them.
It turns out to be a special ‘Mullins Day’ with brothers Willie and Tony both training winners on the card and Danny (son of Tony) riding a winner aboard Feud in the opener. Feud is trained by Limerick man and former dentist Richard O’Brien and owned by the Lough Hyde Partnership and they are dreaming of bigger dances later on in the season.
Speaking of dances, the country and western star Mike Denver is performing in The Quays Pub this evening and as usual he has the place mobbed and I enjoy a few sociables with Chips, Berkie Browne, Spike Murphy, Bags Sheehy, Kieran Stokes and Conor Hughes.
Tuesday
The Festival has 53 races over the seven days which will see approximately 800 horses competing and I am always in awe of the clerk of course and ground staff who do a brilliant job in providing the best ground conditions for each day.
I think we are awful lucky in Irish racing we have the best Clerks Of the Course and with Lorcan Wyer and Tommy Broderick in charge of the ground staff, they provide a fresh track layout each day.
When you consider that the Festivals across the pond race over the same ground for three, four or five days, you realise there is huge credit due to these boys.
Galway have 1,600 staff for the week and with €2.1 million in prize money, the expected crowd figure for the week is 130,000 racegoers.
The feature event this evening the Colm Quinn BMW Mile goes to Mexicali Rose under 18-year-old Killenaule native Wayne Hassett for owner and well-known media personality Kevin Blake and trainer Joseph O’Brien with groom Elaine O’Donovan leading up.
It’s Wayne’s biggest success so far and if you listen to the senior jockeys in the weighroom he is a name to keep an eye on going forward.
We have two English winners both trained in Yorkshire with Adrian Keatley bringing over Gale Mahler for owner Tom Fyffe and jockey Henry Brooke and Richard Fahey winning with Reidh for Mayo owner John Staunton and Donegal jockey Oisin Orr.
Wednesday
It’s a third evening meeting in a row and after catching up on my work from the spacious media centre on track I take a mosey around the enclosures.
In total there are 57 bars and food outlets dotted around the track from the newly revamped Claddagh Restaurant to Pizza and Baked Potato wagons.
In The Claddagh you can have a roast beef dinner for €18.50, turkey and ham is €17.50 or a portion of chips for €5.50.
A pepperoni pizza from the wagon will cost you €17 or a baked potato with beans is €6. A pint of Guinness is €6.50, Rockshore €7.30 or a vodka is €7. Plenty of music around the enclosure too with the likes of Mike Denver, Spring Break, The Gamblers and Bongo Steve keeping the crowd rocking till late in the evening.
On the track today, we have the historic Galway Plate and it goes to a man who trained his first winner here in Galway 52 years ago, and is winning the race for a second time in Noel Meade.
His charge Pinkerton is owned by Downpatrick native Philip Polly and he scoots home under Donagh Meyler, also winning his second Plate after Lord Scoundrel in 2016.
Everyone knows Noel is great company out and a brilliant storyteller and one of my favourite Galway tales is when he won the Hurdle with Pinch Hitter fadó, fadó, 1982, and they won a right few quid from the betting ring, so much that the party that night in the Ardilaun Hotel had Noel and his pals shooting light bulbs with champagne corks!
Incidentally the name of Noel’s first winner here, Lark’s Venture.
Two more trainers record doubles on the card with Joseph O’Brien scoring with former Kerry National winner Busselton on the flat and Shoda for owner Ray Grehan and Scottish-born jockey Tom Hamilton who is signing off with a winner as he is on his travels to Australia to take up a role in Sydney with trainer Matthew Smith. Safe travels Tom.
Ross O’Sullivan and wife Katie Walsh are having a brilliant season and they also record a double with Champella for Newbridge-based Sarsfields Racing Syndicate and a huge local success for Downtown Syndicate with Talk In The Park's owners Fergus Healy, Philip Bowe and Gary and Rob Monroe of the world renowned Monroe’s Tavern in the city.
Their much-missed dad John was one of the games great characters and would you believe Katie rode a winner in the same colours for John back in 2012 with Muzak.
Naturally, Monroe’s is the place to be this evening and the bar is packed with personalities, trainers Ross O’Sullivan, Ado McGuinness, Gordon Elliott and Noel Meade and owners Noel and Valerie Moran, Jimmy Fairhurst and the Dooleys from Manchester, and I swop a few bottles with bookmakers Justin “Spartacus” Flood, Ray “Shapes” Mulvany, Johnny “The Lobber” Farrington, Jack Rodgers and Eoin Fitzgerald.
Thursday
Galway Hurdle and Ladies Day and a crowd of nearly 26,000 throng the racecourse. There is a cash prize of €10,000 for the Best Dressed Lady sponsored by Connacht Hospitality Group and the winner is Davinia Knight from Portarlington. The 40-year-old mother of two tells us she rented her €90 amour ruffle midi-dress by the designer AJE from Gúna Rentals Ireland.
The feature on the track is won by the Joseph O’Brien-trained Nurburgring under J.J. Slevin for Louth owners Con, Neil and Imelda Sands of Bronsan Racing carrying the colours of Con’s GAA Club, St Fechin’s in Termonfeckin, Co Louth, with whom he won a county championship in 1983 and 1984.
It’s a fourth career success for the horse, and for jockey J.J. it adds to a wonderful year, after winning the Irish Grand National, the Punchestown Gold Cup, the Champion Chase at Punchestown and the Boodles at the Cheltenham Festival.
We see doubles for Jessica Harrington and jockey Gary Carroll and a welcome success for trainer Joe Murphy with Grey Leader, which softens the blow of losing Sionnach Eile last Monday, while Ross O’Sullivan bags another winner with Donnie Devito under Tom Harney for popular Mountmellick owner Tommy Ward.
Tommy is a gas man and tells us in his interview that he found a penny on the ground on the way into the races and picked it up as “all day long it will bring you luck”!
The day ends with the biggest-priced winner ever at the Festival when Brave Crogha wins under Aine O’Connor for local based Castlegar owner and trainer Iggy Madden also of the Haulage transport lorry fame. Maybe Iggy found a penny on his way in today too!