Races run full course despite rain

ONE of the country's most glamorous race meeting will not be cut short, as the poor weather wreaks havoc on some race tracks.

The Galway Races will still run for a week despite the wettest spring and summer in the west for more than 100 years.

Any reduction in the number of days would cost the local economy millions, with hotels and pubs hit hardest. The races are scheduled to start on Monday July 29.

Track manager John Maloney last night moved to quell fears that the meeting would be shortened to five or even three days.

Mr Moloney insisted the course was in fine condition and the meeting’s organisers were gearing up for a full week-long festival. “The going is yielding to soft at the moment, which is very good. We are having no difficulties with it.

“Seven days’ racing will pose no problems,” he said.

Workers at Ballybrit have taken the unprecedented step of leaving the ground unwatered in the lead-up to the meeting.

Traditionally, the track is watered several times a week in the days prior to the big July meeting. Worried business people were brought to the track on Tuesday evening to allay fears that the meeting would be shortened.

Several members of the business community walked the course to ensure it was ready for the longest meeting in the racing calendar.

“We’re confident that everything will be all right,” said independent bookmaker and former city mayor John Mulholland.

“The track is not being watered, but there are no other problems with it. This meeting is absolutely vital to the local economy and business increases ten-fold during the races.”

The poor weather has meant that only two race meetings have taken place in the west this year.

Meetings at Sligo and Roscommon were cancelled after the racing surface became waterlogged.

Crowds of 35,000 flock to Ballybrit on day three of the festival when the prestigious Galway Plate is run. Similar numbers are expected on Thursday when the course is filled for fashion on Ladies’ Day.

The remaining days of the meeting see consistent crowds of 20,000 attending the racecourse just outside the city.

The population of Galway swells to more than 200,000 during race week, with everyone from holidaying politicians to big-name celebrities converging on the City of the Tribes.