Ballybrit to be deserted for one of Ireland’s great sporting occasions

VIRTUALLY everything we have come to love about the Galway Summer Racing Festival will be missing next week.

No owners, no bookmakers, no racegoers, no sponsors, no presentations, no socialising, no food, no drink and, most defintely, no craic!

The behind ‘closed doors’ festival will have an eerie and surreal feel to it at Ballybrit due to the ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.

It will be a seven-day meeting the likes of which Galway has never hosted before. Even for the ‘essential workers’ attending, there are strict protocols to be observed.

Unsurprisingly, the build up to one of Irish sport’s most iconic occasions has been strange for Michael Moloney, General Manager of Galway Racecourse, and his staff.

Facing into his sixth festival as Ballybrit chief, Moloney admits the past few weeks have been challenging. It’s been a different of kind of busy too as instead of dealing with the hordes looking for hospitality and entry tickets, the priority has been to ensure a ‘safe environment’ for the few allowed into the meeting.

“It’s been every bit as challenging as a normal festival. We have had to review every part of the operation. It’s disappointing there will be no crowds, but at least we still have the races.”

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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