Galway prays that racegoers can bring glamour back to Ballybrit
FOR milliner Emily Jean O’Byrne, the Galway Races are the summer.
Ms O’Byrne, who runs her popular shop in Moycullen outside the city, is one of those hoping and praying that spectators will be allowed back to Ballybrit for the annual festival, the showcase of the summer racing calendar.
The highly anticipated festival enters the starting gate on Monday, July 26 with Ladies Day taking place the following Thursday.
Race organisers have now applied to allow
5,000 spectators attend each day.
Last year, the Ladies Day event was virtual, but Ms O’Byrne says it’s just not the same.
‘People don’t make the same effort for virtual events, it’s as simple as that,’ she told the Irish Mail on Sunday.
‘You’re not going to go to all that effort to sit in front of a computer screen.
‘I’m really hoping the authorities let spectators back. It’s the boost the city needs,’ she said.
‘For me, weddings are the bread and butter all year round and the races are the cherry on the cake.
‘Since the pandemic, we’ve hardly had any weddings and no races obviously.
‘Before I would have had people flying in from the US and the UK who’d ordered hats online and then picked them up. I also did a drop-off service to the local hotels for guests.’
She said: ‘We’re hoping that we can get some of that back at least.’
With 52 races scheduled over the seven days, this year’s festival has a prize fund of over €1.8m.
Each day offers a feature race with a minimum prize fund of €100,000. The hotly contested Tote Galway Plate on Wednesday July 28, has received a significant increase of €50,000 with the prize fund for the race now standing at €250,000.
Galway Races CEO Michael Moloney is also praying the races will be cheered on from the stands by a crowd.
‘This is something we have been working on for a number of weeks and the application has been made to the Department of Agriculture by ourselves directly and also through Horse Racing Ireland,’ he told the MoS.
‘Other sporting events have been moving forward in terms of numbers, with the golf last week and
8,000 in Croke Park. Therefore, racing needs to keep pace and progress following the successful trial in the Curragh for Derby Day.
‘Five thousand might seem small in comparison to our normal numbers, it still presents some logistical challenges in terms of lead time, etcetera, for our many suppliers,’ he said.
‘We’re just two weeks out and to cater for this number of people would need clarity from the Government in relation to this in the coming days.’
He added: ‘There is huge support from the public and so many people would love to return to Ballybrit this summer, the phones have not stopped ringing for the last few weeks, but it has been great to chat to some of these people and just get a sense of what Galway means to them.’