It was a wild first evening at the Galway Races, as a gusting westerly swept in from the Atlantic, making the press tent billow like a sailing ship. But as almost always happens at this festival, it was a Weld evening too.
The King of Galway, aka Dermot Weld, is aiming to win an astonishing 28th best trainer title in 29 years at this year's meeting. And among the experts who foresaw him getting off to another flyer was a man who was panhandling racegoers in return for tips.
“Back number 9 in the third – Weld’s horse,” he said, while passing the hat. And it’s to be hoped he took his own advice because, sure enough, True Solitaire made light of the heavy going to win by five lengths.
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Mind you, it was what the bookies called a result for the “stay-at-home punters”. This means that, having been heavily favoured earlier in the day, Weld’s horse was “friendless” at the track, where a small fortune was plunged instead on the chances of another training aristocrat, Aidan O’Brien.
Weld’s mount was only second favourite as a result, in a race he had won previously on a ridiculous 23 occasions. We should have known better.
Late money
The Curragh master was never in any doubt himself, despite the avalanche of late money on his rival. “It was a long way up the hill today,” he said of his horse’s battle in the sticky ground. “But he was always going to win.”
Weld didn't have it all his own way. The King of Cheltenham (and most other jump meetings), Willie Mullins, is also here. And he and stable jockey Ruby Walsh lowered Weld's colours in the first race, where the two disputed favouritism. So the competition could be more than usually intense this year.
Whoever finishes top of that and the other official contests, it looks like the racecourse and the city will be big winners too. Despite the winds, and a few dark clouds, the rains of the weekend stayed away yesterday, and are predicted to do so for the rest of the week.
The result was a big opening night, including many glammed-up racegoers who looked like they had entered Thursday’s Best Dressed Lady competition three days early.
There's no prospect of a return to the heady (and occasionally headless) days of a decade ago, when on Galway Plate and Hurdle days, the skies over Ballybrit looked like the helicopter attack scene from Apocalypse Now.
Corporate packages
But attendances are on the rise again, corporate packages for the bigs days are sold out, and according to the
Galway City Tribune,
hotels are looking forward to the busiest festival in years, with some of them booked up for the past three months.
This is not good news for everyone. The same paper reports that "up to 22 homeless families", who were temporarily housed in B&Bs, hotels, and hostels, have been asked to move out for the week. It quotes a Galway City Councillor, Mike Cubbard, complaining about the case of a mother with six children who had been told to "go live with her family out the country", and saying that he knew of several others in the same position.
Back in the parallel universe of Ballybrit, meanwhile, there are no such worries. The stated 550 capacity of the Champagne Tent was never under threat on opening night. But there was a steady stream of customers, and it’s likely to be busier later in the week, especially on Ladies’ Day.
That, as always, coincides with the Galway Hurdle, prize money for which used to be a mere €250,000. This year it rises to a record €300,000, making it the richest jumps race ever held in Ireland.