Sun shines on bookies as Vastonea wins Galway feature

Dermot Weld celebrated his 66th birthday today with a brace of winners at Galway, but it was trainer Kevin Prendergast who claimed first place in the evening’s feature race.

Some 20,000 spectators watched Gary Halpin pilot Vastonea in the Topaz Mile Handicap, the most valuable flat race of the seven-day festival, with a prize pot of €115,000 (€69,000 for the winner).

Crowds had been filing through the gates since 3pm this afternoon, before the first race of the evening: the 5.05 Topaz Novice Hurdle.

As the press photographers busied themselves in the early afternoon snapping any and every woman they could spot wearing a fascinator, a young man, clutching the day’s race card, was busy dispensing tips and advice to two rapt female companions near the entrance.

Michael Niland, from Salthill, later admitted he may not have known as much as he was letting on. “I haven’t actually looked at the card,” he said. “I told them, ‘go for JP McManus if you see him’.”

It wasn’t bad advice though, with the McManus owned Shield winning the first race, the novice hurdle, of the seven-race card.

Fine Gael Senator Catherine Noone, meanwhile, had no tips whatsoever to offer. “I haven’t even thought about horses yet,” she said early on. She was here at the pleasure of her alma mater, NUI Galway, but, with the Seanad due to be recalled on Thursday to discuss the ongoing bombardment of Gaza she won’t be able to stay for the week.

“It’s looking like I’m going to miss Ladies’ Day, so that’s a bit unfortunate,” she said. She swiftly added that “Gaza is a serious, serious issue” but expressed doubt over whether this week’s debate will make much of a difference.

All that was far from the mind of 10-month-old Laughlin O’Connell, from Kells, Co Meath, however, who was much more focused on attempting to wriggle out of his mother’s arms.

“He’s a sociable being,” said his mum, Fiona, adding that this was his first race meeting. It might all end in tears – literally, she said. “But you have to give it a try or else you’d never do anything with kids”.

Although a long-time racing fan, this was also her first time at the meeting in Galway. “I went to University in Galway and hated the idea of going to the Galway Races,” she said, adding that the crowds and “the way Galway changes” tended to put her off.

While the excesses of the Wednesday meeting, which brings with it the big race - the Galway Plate - and Thursday’s Lady’s Day might be a bit much for some, Monday and Tuesday are usually more subdued affairs.

The evening meetings tend to draw more locals, the types who might be inclined to stop in on their way home from work. One punter said more local horses also run on those days. Although they are generally no-hopers, she said, they tend to draw a “much more local crowd”.