The Galway Races still generate big crowds – and even the odd presidential candidate, writes ROSITA BOLANDat Ballybrit
IT’S ONE of the oldest, greatest and most consistent of Irish mysteries. From year to year, no matter how broke or demoralised the country is, big gleeful crowds still magically appear in Ballybrit for the Galway Races.
They were there yesterday under a clammy grey sky for the opening day of this year’s event, in numbers only slightly under last year’s. Yesterday’s attendance was 17,570, while last year 17,961 passed through the gate on the first evening.
The first race of the week created a special buzz among the crowds, who roared the winner Virgil Earp, ridden by Paul Carberry, across the line. Owner and trainer Noel Meade was presented with his winner’s trophy by Labour Party presidential candidate Michael D Higgins.
“I think my chances are quite good now since the recent poll,” Higgins declared afterwards. “I’ll be very glad when we get on with the real campaign, though. I think everyone will agree that the method of getting into the field is archaic.” Then he commented tartly: “The only nastiness I’ve encountered during the campaign are the occasional ageist remarks. Do you know that Picasso did his best work between the ages of 72 and 80?”
Not all racegoers were happy with how busy the Galway Races have become. James Lawlor from Leixlip, Co Kildare, who first attended the Galway Races in 1952, looked around him with mild annoyance. “It’s a bit of a nuisance, to be honest, how popular the races have become. You can’t get anywhere these days without being walked on.”
The maxi dress was noticeable in Ballybrit yesterday, with a rough estimate of one in three women gathering up their trailing hems in their hands.
Celebrating her 21st birthday with a group of eight friends, and at the races for the first time, was Samantha Grady, from Piltown, Co Kilkenny.
They looked like they were dressed for an extremely grand wedding. “I thought it would be far more dressy today,” confessed her friend, Danielle O’Reilly, from Cavan. “We’re only here for the day, but I suppose they’re all out on Thursday for Ladies Day.”
Keeping a sharp eye out for any limping ladies was Jean O’Brien, manager of the Debenhams stall. “You can sense their feet are sore from the expression on their faces and the way they’re walking,” she confided.
On sale at her stall were racks of ballet flats, glittery flip-flops and shiny sandals, aimed at the lady whose vertiginous heels had defeated her.
The cheapest bottle of something sparkling at the champagne tents – there were two – was €40 for a bottle of Prosecco, with prices rising to €160 for Dom Perignon vintage champagne. Over at the Guinness and Oyster tent, a pint of Guinness and half a dozen oysters were selling for €13.
The fifth race of the day was won by Good Shot Noreen, owned by Eimear Mulhern, daughter of the late Charles Haughey. She was not at Ballybrit to accept her prize.
“She’s on her holidays down in Kerry,” the crowd was informed.
For the last 23 years, George Bryan has rented out binoculars to punters, starting off at “three old pounds a day”. This week, he’s charging €8 a day.
“Up to seven or eight years ago, there were no big screens around the racecourse, so if you wanted to follow a particular horse, you needed binoculars.” And now? “It’s mostly tourists from abroad on holidays, who wouldn’t have packed binoculars.” Does he regularly rent out all 80 pairs? “Ah, no. Not recently,” he admitted.
Give or take a few hundred people, long-time bookie, John Mulholland was still happy with the crowds he was seeing.
“It’s very, very busy. Great crowds for the first day,” he observed, as a punter appeared at his pitch with €550, confidently announcing he was going to “win a monkey.”
This, Mulholland explained, is racing talk for theoretically turning €550 into winning €500 plus your money back – no primates included.