DAMP conditions are expected to impact crowd numbers when the seven-day Galway Races kick off on Monday evening.

Earlier this week Horse Racing Ireland [HRI] reported an increase of 7.6% in racecourse attendances for the first half of 2023. HRI chief executive Suzanne Eade said it was “a trend we hope to see continuing into next week’s Galway Festival” but Galway Racecourse boss Michael Moloney said yesterday it was “hard to know” if last year’s total of 116,000 will be bettered at Ballybrit.

“We’re hopeful of a strong week,” Moloney told The Irish Field yesterday. “Advance ticket sales are ahead of last year’s levels and corporate hospitality for the first six days has been sold out for weeks. There is a good buzz locally and people are telling me the races will be a great success. I hope they are right.”

Following a very wet month, Moloney acknowledged the correlation between good weather and good crowds. “Weather plays a huge part,” he said. “But we have loads of covered spaces and we are well able to cater for wet conditions.”

The latest Met Éireann forecast suggests some rain every day in the west up to and including Wednesday.

“The racing is central, the entries are in and it’s shaping up to be a great festival across the board,” Moloney added. “We also have a huge amount of entertainment throughout the week. If anyone is struggling for something to do next week, Galway is the place to be.”

Attendances up

The figures for the first half of 2023 show that attendances, prize money, race sponsorship and betting with bookmakers and Tote, both on and off-course, were ahead of the same period for last year in Irish racing. There were slight reductions recorded in the number of fixtures, races, entries, total runners and average field sizes.

Including the Irish Derby meeting, a total of 544,147 people went racing in the first half of this year, an increase of 7.6% on the first six months of 2022.

Total Tote betting (excluding World Pools) for the first half of the year is up 6.3% at €33.9 million. Total on-course betting reached €36.1 million with on-course bookmakers handling €32.1 million and on-course shops returning an overall figure of €4.4 million.

The total number of horses-in-training during the period rose by almost 300 to 8,614 (up 3.3%), but the number of active owners fell by the same percentage to 3,843. The number of new owners registered in the first half of 2023 was 455.

Turnover at Irish bloodstock public auctions fell by 2.4% to €61 million.

Suzanne Eade said: “Despite the increases in the cost of living, it is noticeable how well the number of horses-in-training is holding up and the increase in the overall attendance figure by 7.6% is certainly to be welcomed.

“Pushing for increased attendances at all 26 racecourses is a key aspect of our ongoing marketing campaigns and the undoubted interest in racing is again resulting in a greater number of racegoers, a trend we hope to see continuing into next week’s Galway Festival and the key early autumn meetings at Irish Champions Festival and the Listowel Festival.”