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Raincoats at the ready as racegoers put their glad rags under cover
RAIN certainly didn’t dampen the fun or the fashion at the Galway Races yesterday.
Punters took shelter under umbrellas and macs as showers poured down on Ballybrit.
Anne and Martin Spellman insisted the weather didn’t ruin their day.
They said: “We have three children, so we got somebody to look after them for a few hours. It was last minute.
“We came to the races a good few years ago but we haven’t been here for a few years.
“It’s great to be back, but I brought the umbrella just in case, it can get wet very quickly.”
Punter Tasha O’connor also planned ahead and bought a pink umbrella to match her dress.
She said: “I got my outfit on sale from Zara and my friends suggested to put a blouse inside it, so it came together last minute.”
Her friend Stacy O’reilly, who also came prepared with a brolly, laughed: “I’ve hidden mine because it doesn’t match my outfit.”
And she revealed the day at the races allowed her to give her wedding shoes another outing.
She said: “I just got married four weeks ago, so the shoes are actually my wedding shoes.
“And this dress was what I wore to the rehearsal before the wedding. It’s actually Tasha’s dress.”
Racegoer Jacqueline Fahy said she was thrilled to see the return of the meeting for the first time since Covid restrictions were lifted.
She added: “I’ve been at the races many times.
“My father was from Galway so I’ve probably been coming here since I was about five and now I’m 60”
Jacqueline admitted she had a fashion fiasco but she didn’t let it spoil her day out.
She said: “We had a little hiccup because I had a headpiece ordered but just before I was going to pick it up the lady said she gave it to somebody else.
“I went to Dunnes and I saw this and thought, ‘Oh wow I really like that, I’ll try it on’. And it’s very comfortable, very affordable and I like it on me.” The style stakes were high yesterday with Kildare woman Sarah Mcdermott named Friday’s Most Stylish.
She won the coveted title with a yellow and pink two-piece outfit from fashion label Harper and a black headpiece from Australian milliner Rebecca Share.
Sarah caught the eyes of the judging panel made up of RTE presenter Blathnaid Treacy, fashion stylist Marietta Doran and general manager of Athlone Town centre Shirley Delahun.
And she’ll be glad they did after her outfit won her a €2,000 Athlone Town Centre gift card, a two-night break in the Sheraton Athlone Hotel, and a piece of jewellery courtesy of
Fields The Jeweller. Meanwhile, teenage jockey Wesley Joyce remains in intensive care following his horrific fall on Thursday.
The apprentice was riding Red Heel when the mare stumbled at the path and unseated him around five furlongs from the finish.
At the time the 20-1 outsider, trained by Michael Mulvany, was fighting for the lead in the
Arthur Guinness Irish EBF
Corrib Fillies Stakes.
Wesley, 19, who won a handicap on the same horse earlier this month, was treated at the scene by the racecourse doctor, Professor
Mcanena.
He was then transferred to University Hospital Galway, where he continues to be treated for his injuries. Dr Jennifer Pugh, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory
Board’s senior medical officer, issued an update via its
official Twitter account yesterday morning.
She said: “Wesley’s condition has further stabilised overnight. The
majority of his injuries are in his chest and he will remain sedated in ICU to rest and be monitored over the coming days.
“The IHRB wish to reiterate our thanks to the team at University Hospital Galway and racecourse doctor, Professor Mcanena, for their excellent care at the racecourse and in the hospital.”
Wesley, who started competing at the main Irish tracks in 2021, has ridden ten winners this year, with his mounts earning €172,903 for their connections.
I have an umbrella but it doesn’t match
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