Tellytrack- Please cover the Galway festival!

Campaign on behalf of Scotia..lol

I`m sure the Bookies would be happy as well?

The world famous Galway Plate Steeplechase is the highlight of the seven day Galway Festival and is the biggest attraction in the Galway Festival 2009 Betting. It is ran over 2 miles and 6 furlongs with prize money this year of over 240,000 Euros. The race has been the high spot at the festival since the Ballybrit racecourse opened officially in 1869. It is one of the main chases in the Irish National Hunt sporting calendar and increasingly is attracting top horses from across the water. Last year it attracted the winner, Oslot, who came over from the all-conquerring Paul Nicholls stable. The Irish at least had sometbing to cheer about as top jockey from last year, Ruby Walsh was on board.

The Galway Handicap Hurdle ran over 2 miles, is the second of two top class races held at the Festival and will attract a huge amount of interest in the Galway Festival 2009 Betting. The other big race is the Galway Plate. The Galway Handicap Hurdle race takes place on the Day 4 of the Festival and usually attracts a big field and huge interest from racegoers and race followers. Prize money this year is in excess of 220,000 Euros and is catching the eye of the big stables from across the water. Day 4 is of course also Ladies Day which makes it one of the best days of the Galway Festival 2009.

The dayshotelgalway.com Handicap

Usually known as simply the Galway Handicap this hurdle race over two miles is a big betting affair which was in 2008 by the Dermot Weld trained Majestic Concorde at a great price of 7/1. He was one of four winners on the Galway races First Day in 2008 for Weld and his team. Majestic Concorde was ridden by RP McNamara.

One of the most valuable races of the week, the Galway mile is the feature race on Day Two of the Galway Festival and attracts quality horse at Group level. It is likely to attract some horses form the UK as well as plenty of quality from Ireland. The prize fund after all is more than a 150,0000 Euros.

The race was won in 2008 by the 7/1 shot, Celtic Dane, trained by Kevin Prendergast and ridden by CD Hayes. He was a 1¾ lengths clear of She’s our Mark at 9/1 with Jalmira a further 1¾ lengths back in third


Freshways Handicap Hurdle

Raced over two miles and five furlongs the Freshways Handicap Hurdle is the feature race on Day Six of the Galway races which carries prize money in excess of 55,000 Euros. It is usually a competitive affair which attracts a big field of runners. It does not have a great reputation for favourite winners, but punters usually find the race very competitively priced and big wins have been recorded


Centenary Handicap

Too late For J J?

The Centenary Handicap, sponsored by the Connacht Tribune is the feature race on the final day of the Galway races.

It is a top quality seven furlong sprint which attracts Group horses as well as top notch handicappers. Being the last day of the Festival it is often the most gambled on race of the entire meeting. Prize money for this race is in excess of 150,000 Euros.





For those wih an interest in the past, the Galway Festival history is a fascinating one. Incredibly records exist that tell of horse race meetings in Galway as long ago as the 13th century, when ‘horse matches’ were organised under the ‘Kings Plate Articles’. Then in 1764 a horse racing festival took place near Loughrea in County Galway with the feature race being the 'Plate' A century later, the meeting had become more formalised and the feature race by then had become the Western Plate. Its entrants were confined to either those qualified for the National Hunt or the County Galway Hunt.

The first racing festival on the Ballybrit racecourse took place on 17th August 1869 where it is believed 40.000 people turned up to watch. The Ballybrit racecourse that measured one and a half miles long was described as a course that excelled any other course in Ireland for good going. The first festival was staged over two days, with four races on each day, but the main attraction for the huge crowd was the Galway Plate,a steeplechase that carried a prize of 100 ‘Sovs’ and raced over a 2½ miles. This first Galway Plate was won by ‘Absentee’in a thirteen horse field.

The festival became an overnight success and the Galway Plate rapidly became one of the biggest races in Ireland. Improvements to the course were constantly made and reputations earned over the next fifty years.

Galway Horse RacingLiberator won the plate in 1879 and went on to win the Grand national in the same year, but the most famous of all Galway Plate runners was the legendary Tipperary Boy who won the Plate three times, in 1899, 1901 and 1902. The Ussher stables became synonymous with Galway races saddling seven winners and Harry Ussher himself set an unprecendented feat in 1920 of saddling all the winners on ‘Plate’ day except the ‘Plate’ itself. With the advent of radio broadcasting in 1929 the Galway Races received a huge following, the Galway Plate was broadcast live in that year as well as the Irish Derby. These days with TV coverage, corporate sponsorship and a seven day meeting, the Festival has become one of the sporting highlights of the Irish Calendar year. It also is one of the biggest betting events anywhere in the world and the Galway Festival 2009 odds will reflect how avidly the races are followed. These days those making bets can usualy do so free with the many fre bet offers available and often combine the free bet with one of the thousands of unqualified tips that are available at the drop of a hat See Galway Festival betting here.

A social event of note, will you meet me there Hibby?

HMM 7 days of guiness and soda scones..

Probably have as much chance of seeing Galway as of seeing the Queen in a tanga. However, they will continue to broadcast Ngong. Go figure!

Magic Whats wrong with Ngong..yesterday 7 out of 9 favourites won.Surely that cant be bad mate?

gary you will LOVE virtual racing when it is launched

Ngong is not exactly my kind of scene. I'm very happy for favourite backers that they cleaned up at the last meeting, but four of five horse fields made up of moderate animals ridden by semi-pro jockeys (at best) is a poor substitute for class racing.

Still, each to his own. I merely ignore it every time it's on.

TIMMY MURPHY will miss next week's Galway festival after it was confirmed that his dislocated left shoulder would leave him sidelined for at least three weeks.

Having been unseated from the David Elsworth-trained Highland River at Newton Abbot on Sunday, Murphy was later attended to at Torbay General Hospital, where x-rays revealed no bones had been fractured.

However, he has been advised to rest by Geoff Graham, the Cardiff-based shoulder specialist who has treated fellow jockeys Christian Williams and Andrew Thornton along with the Welsh rugby team.

"I have been told to go back and see Mr Graham in three weeks, and make a decision then, but it's not desperate, " said the Grand National-winning rider.

"The shoulder came out of its socket and it just depends on how much muscle or tissue damage has been done, but it doesn't seem too bad.

Maybe a South African winning at galway? Speed ticket is entered in the 2mile flat race on the opening day,Speed ticket was favourite for the Ebor but withdrawn on the morning of the race with Keegan Latham booked

McCoy is "14/1", I can only guess he has "no" mounts? lol


Walsh favourite tobe Galway top rider again


IRISH champion jockey Ruby Walsh has been installed the 4-7 favourite with Paddy Power to retain his leading jumps rider title at this year's Galway festival.

Last term Walsh secured the Rooney Auctioneers-sponsored crown by having more prize money, but not winners, than Paddy Flood.

This year Walsh's top book of rides looks set to include the William Hill Galway Plate favourite Roby De Cimbre and the Arthur Guinness Galway Hurdle favourite Deutschland.

Davy Russell, the winner in 2007, is next best in the betting at 7-2, while Flood is a 25-1 shot to go one better than 2008.

The same firm make Pat Smullen 1-4market-leader to take the Flat equivalent, a competition he has taken for the past two years. The 2006 victor Declan McDonogh is second in the list at 6-1.

Top Flat jockey at the Galway festival

Paddy Power: 1-4 Pat Smullen, 6 Declan McDonogh, 8 Fran Berry, 16 Wayne Lordan, 20 Seamus Heffernan, Johnny Murtagh, 50 Chris Hayes, Mick Kinane

Top jumps jockey at the Galway festival

Paddy Power: 4-7 Ruby Walsh, 7-2 David Russell, 10 Paul Carberry, 14 Barry Geraghty, Tony McCoy, 20 David Casey, Niall Madden, 25 Nina Carberry, Paddy Flood, 33 Andrew McNamara

Weld targets yet more
glory as Galway kicks off


THE seven-day Galway festival starts on Monday night and the feature race on the card - the Carlton.ie/galwaycity (QR) Handicap - is a race amateur riders are keen to have on their CV.

Dermot Weld, who won the race four times as a rider, is chasing his sixth success in the event as a trainer and a possible hat-trick with top weight Ghimaar attempting to emulate Loyal Focus and Majestic Concorde who won in 2007 and 2008 respectively.


Weld said: "He's well and is adaptable in terms of ground, but we could have done without the weights going up."

Among the other big names to have won the race in the past 25 years are Ruby Walsh, Tony Martin and Willie Mullins who is represented by Lazio on whom his son, Patrick, Ireland's champion amateur, will be attempting to win the race for the first time.



Top female rider Nina Carberry, who rides Fisher Bridge for Noel Meade, is also bidding for a first win in the race.

Apart from McNamara, Derek O'Connor is the only other rider involved on Monday to have won the race. He was successful on Rapid Deployment in 2003.

In all the success Weld has enjoyed at the Galway festival, the 7f two-year-old maiden on Monday's card has been the race he has dominated more than any other.

When Klairvimy won the race in 1972 he became Weld's first Galway winner and on Monday evening he will be attempting to win it for the 19thtime.

Stunning View, a Shamardal half-brother to dual Classic winner Desert King, finished runner-up to the highly regarded Kingsfort on his debut at the Curragh last month and will be attempting to emulate such subsequent high achievers as Go And Go and Grey Swallow who were among Weld's winners of the race.

Few decent races to start the festival, and a couple of South African named horses, "Hunting Tower" won last three and with Ruby Walsh might be worth a peck at 7/1. plus "Badge of Honour" won its last 2 and is at 10/1,

Best bet is Stunning View.

good punting!