Races washout sees crowds plummet
Massive downpours over the past two days have had a severe impact on attendance and gambling figures for the two main days of the Galway Racing Festival.
Poor weather in the hours before the course opened resulted in a drop of over 10,000 for the Galway Hurdle on Thursday, while a downpour the previous afternoon also kept thousands of punters away from the Galway Plate raceday.
Some pubs and bookmakers in the city centre reported an unexpected boom in daytime business as many punters opted for the comfort of watching the races on television rather that getting soaked at the Ballybrit course.
One veteran city bookmaker, who has had a ‘pitch’ in the ring at Ballybrit for over 25 years, described the atmosphere on the track on Wednesday as “eerie” as only 14,038 saw favourite Carlingford Lough win the Galway Plate.
“It was eerie out here on Wednesday, the place was so empty,” said John Mulholland. “It is definitely the weather that’s keeping people away, as our shops in town have reported a boom in business throughout the afternoon.
“I’ve been coming here since 1986 and 1987 and I love being at the Galway Races. But I would say that on Ladies’ Day in Ballinrobe in June we had twice as many bets made on the course as we had on Wednesday. I would imagine the tornados which were forecast kept a lot of people away.”
The seven-day Galway Festival is seen as the ‘jewel in the crown’ of Irish racing, particularly in a recession, but a reduction in the Tote spend on Wednesday, from €930,473 to €676,025, will be seen as a big blow to the industry.
Bookmakers also saw their turnover decrease from €1.5m on the Wednesday last year to just over €1m this week, due to the significant drop in the attendance at the course.
Many punters who dressed up for Ladies Day decided to stay in the pubs and restaurants in the city centre rather than make the journey out to the racecourse in the pouring rain.
“It’s miserable out here, a complete washout,” said one punter who made it out to Ballybrit in time for the second race yesterday.
“The only good thing is that there is plenty of room to move around, to get a pint or make a bet or whatever. It feels more like a Monday than the Thursday of Race Week, to be honest with you.”
For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune