In less than five weeks’ time, the highly anticipated and much-loved Galway Races Summer Festival returns, kicking off from Monday, July 29 to Sunday, August 4.
With fifty-three races and eight hundred horses due on site over the seven days, the festival has a luring prize fund of over €2.159 million on offer.
Each day offers a minimum prize fund of €110,000 for the feature race, with a minimum value for any race at Galway standing at €17,000.
Galway is unique in that it offers a mixed card for the week with a combination of both national hunt and flat races being held on all seven days.
Anthony Ryan, Chairman of the Galway Race Committee said, “We are once again delighted to present the iconic Galway Racing Festival. We eagerly anticipate huge attendances from our loyal fan base, from families and groups of friends and from many first-time race goers.”
“The festival offers top class horse racing, superb prize money, delicious hospitality options, lots of live entertainment and fashion to take your breath away.”
“With the support of our Sponsors and Partners, we anticipate this year’s Festival to be the best yet. We look forward to welcoming you all to Ballybrit.’’
The hotly contested Tote Galway Plate on Wednesday 31st July, a race synonymous with Galway and key to the history of the festival, has a prize fund of €270,000 on offer.
The Tote Galway Plate is a race awash with quality, with experienced chasers taking on emerging youngsters. T
The race cards on Thursday, August 1 and Friday, August 2 are sponsored in full by the Galway Races long standing partner, Guinness, with Thursdays Guinness Galway Hurdle worth €270,000.
Feature races on the supporting cards include The Connacht Hotel (Q.R.) Handicap of €110,000, The Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap of €120,000, The BoyleSport Handicap Hurdle valued at €110,000, and The Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund “Ahonoora” Handicap of €110,000.
Partnerships have been the backbone and key to the success of the iconic Galway Races.
Best Line Up of Live Music Yet, including Country Music Star Mike Denver
This year, the team in Galway present to you its biggest musical line up yet, with over fifty live music performances and entertainers booked for over the seven days of the festival, including the highlight on Galway Plate Day, Mike Denver for the Country Music Day.
In addition, you can enjoy bands such as Spring Break, Pyramid, Bongo Steve, Sean Slattery & The Connections, The Galway Tenors, The Gamblers, Lackagh Comhaltas, The Conquerors plus lots more.
The Lexus Melbourne Cup is Coming to Galway as Part of its European Tour
This year marks the 164th running of the Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m), the world’s richest handicap with prizemoney worth $AUD8.4 million and a trophy worth $AUD750,000, making it one of the most prized trophies in world sport.
This year, the trophy will travel approximately 110,000 kilometres across the world, before arriving back to Melbourne in the days before the Melbourne Cup in November.
It will have travelled to 39 destinations on the Cup Tour, giving people across the world the chance to experience the magic of the People’s Cup. As part of its European journey, the iconic trophy will visit the Galway Races Summer Festival on Saturday, August 3.
The Melbourne Cup has strong Irish ties with four Irish trained horses winning Australia’s most iconic race in its 163-year history, Vintage Crop (1993) with trainer Dermot Weld, Media Puzzle (2002), Rekindling (2017) and Twilight Payment (2020).
