Bookmakers and tote down on sixth day of Galway Races despite strong turnout

Galway Bay fm newsroom – There was a strong turnout for the first weekend meet of the Galway Races – but bookmaker and tote takings were down once again. Today is the final day of racing at Ballybrit – and both attendances and takings are down across the week. Yesterday marked the penultimate day of racing at Ballybrit – and once again figures were down across the board. Attendance was broadly in line with last year, with 13,300 people passing through the gates – just a slight drop of several hundred compared to last year. However, the bookmakers were hit by a somewhat wider margin – taking in €747 thousand – a drop of over €52 thousand on the figure for 2017. Meanwhile, tote figures took a hit of almost €95 thousand – falling from €642 thousand recorded last year, to €547 collected yesterday. The first of the eight races scheduled for the final day of racing at Ballybrit goes to post this afternoon at 2.15.