Attendance and betting up substantially for Galway Plate Day

Galway Bay fm newsroom – The attendance and betting were up substantially at Ballybrit yesterday for Galway Plate Day.
The crowd of 18,766 was almost 5000 more than last year while the betting of 2.3 million was up by 640 thousand euro.
The tote turnover of just under 831 thousand euro was up by 155 thousand euro while the bookies spend of 1.5 million was up almost half a
million euro on Plate Day last year.
There was a big cheer for Most Peculiar, owned by Galway man Philip Hackett while Noel Meade toasted his first ever Galway Plate victory with
Road to Riches.
Soccer fans were in for a real treat as Ireland manager Martin O’Neill posed for numerous photos as well as signing autographs in between races.
Today the focus will be on fashion as much as on the horses as it’s Ladies Day.
The Anthony Ryans Best Dressed Lady will walk away with a one carat diamond pendant and matching diamond earrings valued at €8,500, a
shopping spree to the value of €1,500 and €1000 Cash.
The prize for the winner of the ‘Best Hat’ competition is a shopping spree worth €1,500 in Anthony Ryans while the winner of the new ‘Wear
Irish’ competition will receive a shopping voucher worth €500
The first race is at 1.50 this afternoon while the feature race the Galway Hurdle is at 4.55pm.