Crowd surges by 5,500 at Day 5 of Galway Races

Day 5 of the Galway Races saw a huge increase in crowds on last year, with an extra 5,500 through the turnstiles, while betting on the Tote almost doubled.

Figures from the Race Committee tonight show that a whopping 27,093 people were in the enclosure for this evening’s race meeting.

That’s up almost 26% (5,561 people) on the 21,532 who passed through the turnstiles on Day 5 last year.

The Tote also saw a massive 90% increase in betting – up to €1,270,137 from  €668,254 last year.

Bookies’ turnover also saw an increase (almost 12%) – from €1,222,044 last year to €1,367,197.

The big race today was the Guinness Handicap (€100,000) won by Golden Spear, ridden by Leigh Roche, trained by Tony Martin and owned by Newtown Anner Stud Farm.