Galway Races celebrating 150th with big future plans

Approval of planning permission for a €14 million redevelopment of Ballybrit Racecourse provided the perfect birthday present for the Galway Races – as the 150th running of Ireland’s largest horse racing festival hits top gear.

City Council planners this week approved the new development, including a spectator amphitheatre, bars, restaurants, courtyard, new parade ring and a refurbishment of part of the Millennium Grandstand.

Racecourse manager Michael Moloney told the Galway City Tribune that once the festival concludes on Sunday, attention will turn to securing funding.

“It’s a great occasion to have received the news, in the middle of Race Week. It’s a huge development planned. We’ve been working on it for the guts of two years. It’s going to change the racecourse, and is probably the biggest change we’ve had since the Killannin Stand (opened 2007). It will change how the racecourse operates, particularly from an equine point of view.

“A new pre-parade ring and parade ring and access onto the track and returning horses; it’s going to change that and improve the customer experience.

“It’s all about bringing the horses, jockeys and trainers closer to the people, and bringing more interaction on race day. It’s real positive news,” he said.

Mr Moloney said it “will take a couple of years before we see it come to fruition on site” but getting planning was “a big hurdle to jump”.

The next stage is applying for funding from Horse Racing Ireland, and if successful, the revamped racecourse could be ready in 2021 or 2022, he said.

Racing got off to the flyer on Monday with attendances up around 200 to 20,397. Among those present was An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, who, along with Galway Race Committee chairman, Peter Allen, officially unveiled a bespoke life-size piece of art, Leading the Winner, by renowned Irish sculptor John Behan, to celebrate the 150-year milestone.

Jody Townend provided the fairy-tale in Monday’s feature, when saddling Great White Shark to victory in the Connacht Hotel Handicap for Willie Mullins.

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

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