Ask Damien McElroy, racing tipster of the Irish Independent. Ask racehorse trainer Christy Roche. Ask RTE's Tracy Piggott.
Make sure to ask everyone you meet: friends, colleagues and total strangers. Don't forget Gráinne Seoige, Pat Kenny and Anthony Ryan's Best Dressed Lady. It's all part of the 'Tips for Galway Races' tradition.
In the long run, however, the best way to profit from their well-intentioned Galway tips is to file them all under 'Amnesia'.
The boys in The Mullioned Snug offered the followingasa FEW of the reasons why tipped horses lose at Galway (and at other racetracks throughout the world).
Horse - too slow; badly drawn; too much weight; dwelt at the start; didn't stay; unsuited by trip; didn't come up the hill; didn't go down the hill; unsuited by right-handed course; slipped up on landing; bad luck in running; scoped badly after the race; burst a blood vessel; saddle slipped; lost his place; stone bruise; didn't get a clear run; needed the run; ran out ......
Jockey - lost his whip; not suited to horse; tactical error; came too early; came too late; not forceful enough in finish; fell off; out too late the night before ....
Trainer - stable out of form; not good at placing his horses; readying horse for a future race .....
At this point, the barman in The Mullioned Snug called 'last orders'.
With so many excuses for losing horses, it's hard to see how any sane racegoer would seriously expect to make money from tips forGalway Races?
'Bookmakers look forward to the Galway Races to boost their fluctuating funds. A bumper week at this cornucopian venue invariably puts them 'in front' for the year. Inexperienced holiday punters contribute ceremonially to the bookies' coffers through their artless bets on pin-selected horses and those with agreeable names.
On the other hand, informed gamblers and 'strokers' with mysteriously inexhaustible funds can cause serious damage at the competitive betting odds generally available at Galway.
When heavily-supported horses oblige in consecutive races, the resultant queues of winning punters are enough to strike panic into the heart of the most phlegmatic turf accountant.
The bookmaker's recurring nightmare must surely be a record losing day at Galway with payout queues stretching telescopically into the famous sunset, and his assistants whispering nervously: 'We aren't going to have enough readies to pay this lot.'
Miraculously, the trusty betting-bag proves equal to the most exacting demands and yields funds far in excess of its squat dimensions. Talk about loaves and fishes … or rabbits from a hat! Bookmakers regularly perform biblical and theatrical feats at the Galway Races.' From 'The Galway Races'
Irish Derby 2009 - Official attendance 23,271 15 per cent down on Irish Derby 2008
Irish Derby 2009 - €1.6m bet with the bookies Irish Derby 2008 - €2.1m bet with bookies
The Galway Race Committee must act decisively to avoid the same fate. Drastic times call for drastic measures. Now that the tent pegs have been uprooted, what next?
In TheMullioned Snug last night, the following song titles were suggested by a trio of disillusioned tipplers:
'Galway Races - The Thrill Is Gone' 'Galway Races - Those Were The Days' 'Galway Races - Yesterday, All My Troubles Seemed So Far Away' 'Galway Races - The Carnival Is Over' 'Galway Races - Save The Last Dance For Me' 'Galway Races - A Nation Turns Its Lonely Eyes to You'
In'Galway for the Races',Jim Bolger told Barry Henriques:
"The one aspect of going to Galway that I find infuriating is the infernal road traffic. It is probably one of the reasons why we stay in Galway for the duration. I pity the numbers of patrons who are forced, by reason of work or commitment elsewhere, to make the journey on a daily basis.
I have often referred to it (Galway) as the right-handed Epsom of Ireland. People often say that the hill is the deciding factor, but I can assure you that if your horse is travelling well down the hill, you have a great chance of being in the frame. Position is everything as you race into the dip. Of course, it's a tough climb up the hill as you turn in but, if you haven't travelled well to the hill and you have a poor position, you have no chance of getting home in front.
People come from all over to Galway. That is another reason for being there. You meet people at the Galway Races that you may never meet until the following year. It is a date marked into the diaries of many of our emigrants from all over the world. I've met people from New York and San Francisco. I've met them from all over the UK and Europe. I've met them from Asia and Australia. I love talking to them. It (Galway Races) also has a great magnetism for sports people: hurlers, footballers, and rugby people."
Jim Bolger's first winner at Galway was Pigeon's Nest. Ridden by Peter Scudamore, it landed the John Player's Amateur Handicap in 1979.
, the legendary Galway specialist,told Barry Henriques of the 'Kilkenny People': "I raced in Tuam much earlier than I raced in Galway. It took us a long time to have a horse capable of giving a good account of himself in Galway. But when we succeeded in getting a decent horse ready for Galway, we never looked back afterwards."
"I loved Galway," he added,"and I suspect Galway loved me. It was a very lucky track for me, and I never had any major misfortune there over all the years I have been travelling there. My brother, Captain Luke Mullins, was the Clerk of the Course there for years, so it was particularly enjoyable for me and my family to go and stay with him.
I love going to Galway and nothing has changed over the years to quench that regard. It has an attraction all its own and it is, without doubt, the best racing track in the country. They have made enormous improvements over the years, and I wouldn't miss going down there for diamonds. It is a unique place in every sense of the word."
Extract from 'Galway for the Races' - published in 2006.
"Galway is a flagship for racing in this country." In an interview for 'Galway for the Races', trainer Edward O'Grady told Barry Henriques of the 'Kilkenny People': "I love Galway. I have so many great memories of Ballybrit, so many friends around Galway. For a whole raft of reasons, it has become one of the great shining lights of the Irish racing scene. It is no secret why it has achieved the great regard it has in people's estimation.
Galway is a flagship for racing in this country, particularly steeplechasing racing. It is a hugely progressive track with an enormously hard-working and dedicated Committee, and a Manager (John Moloney) who must be the envy of all other racing venues around the country."
Edward recalled his best memories of the Galway Races: "I have so many great days, and great memories, since I first started training and taking horses to Galway, but if pressed, I suppose, in deference to other great horses and great acclaim, I would have to say that winning the double with Hindhope and Hard Tarquin on successive days (1979) with Jonjo (O'Neill) in the saddle would probably rank as the best memory."
In light of the current economic recession and the dramatic fall in attendances at race meetings throughout Ireland and the UK, the big question among the horse racing fraternity in Ireland is 'Will attendances be up or down at the Galway Festival in 2009?'.
Galway Races Summer Festival 2009 Admission Prices
Mon July 27th - €20 Tues July 28th - €25 Wed July 29th - €30 Thurs July 30th - €30 Fri July 31st - €25 Sat Aug 1st - €20 Sun Aug 2nd - €20
Factor in racecards at €3.00 per meeting, car parking, meals, snacks, drinks, refreshments, not to mention BETTING (if you can afford it).
Recession? What recession?
Don't mention spiralling unemployment or plummeting house prices.
Don't mention the blitzed construction industry or the stalled motor industry.
Don't mention the collapse in the number of visitors from Britain, who are discouraged by the sterling-euro exchange rate.
Can the plain people of Ireland afford to go to Galway Races this year?
Ask RTE's Paddy O'Gorman ('Queueing for a Living') as he tours the children's playgrounds of Ireland interviewing Ireland's new poor.
Ask your local property developer or your neighbourhood architect.
How to beat the recession?
Shanks's mare, a packed lunch and cold tea in a bottle.
Racing page from a giveaway newspaper that includes a free €5 bet.
Stowaway in a horsebox.
With a little ingenuity, you can 'join the crowd at Galway'.
Barney Curley landed two major gambles at Galway Races in 1999 with Mystic Ridge and Magic Combination.
"Galway is one of the big events of the summer racing season in Republic of Ireland. Irish people come from all over the world just to be there. For sheer atmosphere, it's like Cheltenham, although on a smaller scale, and Irish men love nothing better than to train a winner there.
I warmed up with a win in a mile handicap with my five-year-old Mystic Ridge at Leopardstown at the beginning of July and then took the gelding on to the Galway Festival ..... "
Galway hotels come in all shapes and sizes.Use the Galway hotels link below to check out the following list of hotels:
Abbeyglen Castle Hotel, Clifden Anno Santo Hotel Ballynahinch Castle Hotel, Recess, Connemara Best Western Flannery’s Brennan’s Yard Cashel House Hotel, Cashel, Connemara Clifden Station House Clybaun Connemara Coast Corrib Village Courtyard, Galway City Courtyard by Marriott Days Hotel, Galway Forster Court Galway Bay Hotel, Salthill Glenlo Abbey Hotel Great Southern- Corrib The G Hotel Harbour Hotel The House Hotel Hotel Meyrick - Eyre Square (formerly the Great Southern) Ibis Galway Waterfront Hotel, Salthill Imperial Hotel Galway Kingsvalley Menlo Park Oranmore Lodge Park House Premier Suites, Galway City Quality Hotel and Leisure Centre Galway Galway Hotels - Click here
"He misses nothing, that John Moloney. A top man, " grins a pipe-smoking onlooker. "He could hear the grass growing. Did you see him on that TV3 programme the other night? Up from the crack of dawn. Preparing for this week these last twelve months. He hadn't even time to sit down while he was eating his breakfast cereal.
Checking his old-fashioned rain gauge.'None of this modern computer model weather forecasting for me,' says he. 'If you can see Black Head out in Galway Bay, you know it has cleared.'
Walking the course. Prodding and poking at the turf to test the going. No stone left unturned.
Oh, it was well said that if you want a job done properly, give it to a busy man."
"To racegoers travelling along the Dublin to Galway road, the names on the signposts are a magical incantation: Tyrrellspass, Kilbeggan, Horseleap, Moate, Athlone, Ballinasloe, Aughrim, Kilreekill, Loughrea, and Craughwell. Fields and hedgerows rush by; the distinctive stone walls of Galway begin to appear; and the pulse quickens.
Oranmore at last! Devotees converge from Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Limerick and Clare, their eyes alert for the heart-warming directional signs to 'The Galway Races'.
Traffic Branch gardai ensure the smooth flow of traffic. You park your car and emerge to the nostalgic scent of freshly mown grass and the familiar echoing sound of the public address system.
The ivied ruins of the Old Norman castle and the distant prospect of the hills of Clare evoke memories of previous Galway Races.
Revived at Ballybrit, about three miles from Galway city, in 1869, the Galway Races has grown from a small country meeting into the fourth largest horse racing festival in the World. Its feature races, the Galway Steeplechase Plate and the Galway Hurdle, have a rich history; and owners, trainers and jockeys love to have winners at Galway, where in those brief few minutes after the victory they all enjoy 'one crowded hour of glorious life'.
This book contains an account of the origin and development of the Galway Races and people and horses that were part of this amazing story. Fred Cullen's feat of training all five winners on the card, the first English-trained winner at the meeting in 1904, the panic in Galway when the Government announced the centralisation of racing during the Great War and the U-turn that followed when it was realised that the economy of the city depended on the races. The great Galway trainers,including Harry Ussher, Maxie Arnott, Dermot Weld and Noel Meade; the leading owners, Charles Blake, Pansy Croft, Michael Smurfit; and the famous riders, including Gary Moore, Tommy Beasley, Joe Canty, and Michael Kinane all feature in this book.
Events are also covered, like the winner of the Galway Hurdle that was disqualified because the owner did not pay the entry fee; the angry weather that caused the abandonment of the old Tuam programme when run at Galway for the first time; and the changing face of Ireland in the early sixties, which caught out the Galway Race Committee.
Do you want to apply for landing rights for your helicopter at Galway Races 2009?
Extract from 'The Irish Times' 20/5/2009
'One of the litmus tests for Irish helicopter use will come later this summer at the annual Galway Races. In recent years helicopter travel to and from the racecourse necessitated the building of a dedicated control tower, with the event more in tune with a scene from Black Hawk Down than an annual race meet. Over 2,000 landings took place during the course of the festival in 2008, compared to 120 in 1991.
At last month’s Punchestown Festival, helicopter landings dropped from 1,200 last year to less than 300 this year. It is estimated that the numbers of landings on the Friday of the festival in 2008 was the same as the total number for the whole week this year.
Organisers at the Galway Festival are currently writing to companies asking if they intend re-applying for landing rights at this year’s festival. Racecourse managerJohn Moloney says it’s too early to tell what level of chopper traffic this year’s festival will attract, but his "gut feeling is that there will be less this year than last year".'Down to Earth with a Bump
Galway Race Week accommodation should be booked as early as possible to obtain the hotel, apartment, house or bed and breakfast of your choice.
Since most racegoers prefer Galway Race Week accommodation that is within walking distance of the centre of Galway (where the real festival action takes place), hotels and guesthouses with convenient access to the following locations usually fill up first: Eyre Square, William Street, Shop Street, High Street, Quay Street, Eglinton Street, St Francis Street, Smith Street, Upper Abbeygate Street, Lower Abbeygate Street, Middle Street, Lower Dominick Street, and the Spanish Arch and Museum area.
'Galway Race Week Accommodation' is a phrase that crops up with increasing regularity in conversations throughout the country as the Galway Races approach. Regular Galway racegoers know from experience that it is important to book their accommodation well in advance of the Ballybrit racing festival, but there are always the newcomers who arrive in Galway at the last minute expecting to check in to their chosen hotel or B&B in the centre of the city at a moment's notice.
"For one group of incorrigible optimists, who have no accommodation booked, the hundreds of 'No Vacancies' signs around Galway have necessitated a frustrating odyssey through Salthill, Barna, Spiddal, Inveran and the distant outcrops of Connemara. "There's three of us sleeping under an upturned currach!" jokes the man with the pint. €39.99 for bed and breakfast. The woman said it was a special offer. Still, I wouldn't miss Galway for anything." From 'Galway Races - Memories in the Making'
When Christy Moore appeared with Pat Kenny on the Late Late Show, he added extra lyrics about the Irish banking scandal.
"There's Bethlehem and Cheltenham and Lourdes and Limerick Junction, The trip to Medjagoria or the rub of the Extreme Unction. Good people climb Croagh Patrick with serenity on their faces, But Ruby saved me bacon below at the Galway Races. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
They're under starters orders, Ted Walsh is commentating, Oh Ruby's up on the favourite, she'll take some 'batin'. Oh Necks are craned and eyes are strained there's fear upon the faces. There's agony and ecstasy below at the Galway Races. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
It's there you'll see gentility, sheep dressed up like mutton. There's double barrelled names with more airs than old melodeons The talk is all of tillage, of silage and conacre, And there goes Tracy Piggott to the saddling enclosure. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
Sir John Mucksavage-Smythe is there with Smurfits and O'Reillys, The owners and the trainers, the stable boys and jockeys With silk around their arses getting up on rich men's horses, Not to mention wives and daughters and marriages and divorces. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
There's Celtic helicopters and land bank speculators, There's builders, developers, crocodiles and alligators. They're flocking around the Galway tent like seagulls in a frenzy Poor Beverley peels the spuds, poor Bertie skims the gravy. Hey Ruby hold he back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
The little Micky Fingletons and the Seanie Fitzpatricks, Oh them is the boys to run the bank, their wages are fantastic. They're hedging their bets in doubles, trebles and accumulators, And knowing the blinkers have gone on the financial regulators. Hey Ruby hold her back give her the crack and up she'll go.
Oh Thursday it's the Ladies' Day and the women all look smashing, They're lashing on the lipstick, Philip Treacy's all the fashion. You can see the liposuction, botox and augmentation, Brazilian crewcuts and colonic irrigation. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
Then everyone's out to Salthill for the craic and for the porter. There's bookies laying odds on two flies walking up the wall. There's fiddles and trad, they're disco mad, karaoke and set dances, And some of us who'd seen better days were looking to take our chances. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
She's galloping down the back straight, Ruby has her in a canter. Ah look at her lep the jumps, by God, she's like a ballet-dancer. They're over the last, she hits the front, nothing's going to pass her. It's 'Winner All Right', 'Up Kildare!', 'Follow Me Up To Carlow', Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go. Hey Ruby Walsh hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
There's Bethlehem and Cheltenham and Lourdes and Limerick Junction, The trip to Medjagoria, the rub of the extremunction. Good people climb Croagh Patrick with serenity on their faces, But Ruby Walsh he saved me life below at the Galway Races. Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go.
They're under starters orders, Ted Walsh is commentating, Ruby's up on the favourite, she'll take some 'batin'. Necks are craned and eyes are strained, there's fear upon the faces. There's agony and ecstasy below at the Galway Races. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
It's there you'll see gentility and sheep dressed up like mutton. There's double barrelled names with more airs than old melodeons. The talk is all of tillage, of silage and conacre. I fancy Tracy Piggot in the saddling enclosure. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
Sir John Mucksavage-Smythe is there with Smurfits and O'Reillys, The owners and the trainers, and the stable boys and jockeys With silk around their arses getting up on rich men's horses Not to mention wives and daughters and marriages and divorces. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go.
There's Celtic helicopters, land bank speculators, Builders and developers, crocodiles and alligators. Soldiers of Destiny, they're in a fevered frenzy. Them boys would eat the Lamb Of God and come back for the gravy. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go.
Thursday is the Ladies' Day and the women all look smashing, They're lashing on the lipstick, Philip Tracy's all the fashion. You can see the liposuction, the botox and augmentation, Brazilian haircuts, colonic irrigation. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go.
And everyone's out to Salthill for the craic and for the porter, There's bookies making odds on two flies walking up the wall. There's folk and trad and they're disco mad, karaoke and set dances, While some of us who'd seen better days were looking to take our chances. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go.
They're galloping down the back straight, he has her in a canter, Ah look at her lep the jumps, by God, she's like a ballet-dancer. They're over the last, she hits the front, no other is going to pass her. 'Winner All Right', it's 'Up Kildare!', 'Follow me up to Carlow'. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go. "
Christy Moore's tribute to Ruby Walsh who 'saved me life' at the Galway Races.
There's Bethlehem and Cheltenham and Lourdes and Limerick Junction, The trip to Medjagoria, the rub of the Extreme Unction. Good people climb Croagh Patrick with serenity on their faces, But Ruby Walsh he saved me life below at the Galway Races. Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
They're under starters orders, Ted Walsh is commentating, Ruby's up on the favourite, she'll take some 'batin'. Necks are craned and eyes are strained, there's fear upon the faces. There's agony and ecstasy below at the Galway Races. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
It's there you'll see gentility and sheep dressed up like mutton. There's double barrelled names with more airs than old melodeons. The talk is all of tillage, of silage and conacre. I fancy Tracy Piggot in the saddling enclosure. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
Sir John Mucksavage-Smythe is there with Smurfits and O'Reillys, The owners and the trainers, and the stable boys and jockeys With silk around their arses getting up on rich men's horses Not to mention wives and daughters and marriages and divorces. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
There's Celtic helicopters, land bank speculators, Builders and developers, crocodiles and alligators. Soldiers of Destiny, they're in a fevered frenzy. Them boys would eat the Lamb Of God and come back for the gravy. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
Thursday is the Ladies' Day and the women all look smashing, They're lashing on the lipstick, Philip Treacy's all the fashion. You can see the liposuction, the botox and augmentation, Brazilian haircuts, colonic irrigation. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
And everyone's out to Salthill for the crack and for the porter, There's bookies making odds on two flies walking up the wall. There's folk and trad and they're disco mad, karaoke and set dances, While some of us who'd seen better days were looking to take our chances. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
They're galloping down the back straight, he has her in a canter, Ah look at her lep the jumps, by God, she's like a ballet-dancer. They're over the last, she hits the front, no other is going to pass her. 'Winner All Right', it's 'Up Kildare!', 'Follow me up to Carlow'. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the craic and up she'll go. Hey Ruby hold her back, give her the crack and up she'll go.
Galway Races - Tips
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