Crowds increase for Galway racing festival

Date Published: 04-Aug-2010

John McIntyre

JOHN Moloney had called it right all along. Over 20 years in the post as track manager at Ballybrit has given the Limerick native an unique insight into what to expect at the most popular racing festival in the country each summer. He doesn’t succumb to sentiment or wistful thinking; he calls it as he sees it.

Ahead of the 2010 festival, Moloney predicted that attendance and betting figures for the week would be “on a par” with last year. His forecast was virtually on the money with the overall crowd for the seven day meeting coming in at 150,762, up over 8,000 on 12 months ago.

In an era of falling sporting attendances due largely to the ongoing recession, that represents a magnificent achievement by Moloney and the Galway Race Committee. They have arguably never marketed the meeting better and with track facilities continually being upgraded, this year’s festival always stood a fair chance of bucking that trend.

Though the crowds were up, especially for the Friday evening fixture (23,054 as against 18,258 in 2009), it comes as no surprise that betting returns were a little below last year’s figures. The total bookmaker turnover came in at €13, 106, 778 which was only down €134,747, while the Tote Aggregate totalled €5,770,317, scarcely €50,000 less than in 2009.

It was a landmark festival in more ways than one. Apart from the King of Ballybrit, Dermot Weld, saddling 11 winners for the first time ever, and top cross-channel jockey Graham Lee, born just a few miles from the track, steering Overturn to a decisive success in the Guinness Hurdle, there was also the Japanese factor last Friday evening.

Former Melbourne Cup second, Pop Rock, trained by Takashi Kodama, made light of his recent transfer to the Curragh, by powering home under Fran Berry in the Guinness Race and, in the process, the popular nine-year-old’s triumph gained some international acclaim for the festival.

Though there was no locally trained winner, it proved a rewarding meeting for several Galway owners with Killimordaly’s John Earls seeing his colours carried twice into the winners’ enclosure thanks to the exploits of novice chaser, Chicago Grey, and three-mile hurdler, Hoopy.