City set for Races windfall as pre-bookings rocket

It may not be back to its Celtic Tiger heyday when the skies resembled Vietnam, but early bookings for the 2015 Galway Races show that Ballybrit is returning to the packed turnstiles of seven years ago.

So far, pre-bookings for the week-long racing extravaganza are up 15%, according to racecourse manager John Moloney.

And If the weather holds, the festival could well net the city even more than the €60 million bonanza it reaps annually.

Corporate packages have all sold out on the prime days – a massive departure on previous years when punters had pared back and shunned the high-end hospitality.

Mr Moloney puts the jump down to a hike in overseas punters, mainly from the UK, buoyed by the strongest sterling in years.

The record level prize money – in excess of €1.8m this year (up 16%) – has also attracted more pedigree horses, and with the horses come more serious gamblers.

To celebrate the 50th year of their sponsorship, the Guinness Galway Hurdle on Thursday has been increased by €50,000 to €300,000 – making it the richest National Hunt race ever to be run in Ireland.

“We’re certainly not at record levels. That won’t be happening again, at least not for a long time. But we’re creeping back up to 2008 levels,” said Mr Maloney.

“There’s more people at the Races every year – overseas people are largely behind the pre-bookings but as 60-70% of our people decide to come in on the day at the turnstiles, we’ll see. It’s going to match last year certainly – I’d say at least 150,000.”

For lots of Racing coverage, see this week’s Galway City Tribune