Few events on the racing calendar evoke as much excitement as the Galway Races Summer Festival, and the 2024 iteration of the week-long extravaganza promises to be its biggest and best edition yet.
800 horses will head west to compete across 54 races between Monday 29th July and Sunday 4th August for a total prize pot of €2.1m, and more than 130,000 spectators are expected to cram into Ballybrit Racecourse to witness the action.
Of course, the Galway Festival, which can trace its roots back to 1869, cannot be categorised as a mere sports event alone. Each year, thousands of attendees descend on the City of the Tribes to sample Galway’s famed hospitality, and although the races are undoubtedly the festival’s centre piece, the seven-day fiesta offers much more besides.
Indeed, it’s probably best described as a cultural phenomenon where music, good food and better craic combine to complement a world-class racecard.
The High Ticket Races
The Galway Racing Festival is renowned for its high-calibre card and each of the event’s seven days will feature a lucrative race with a prize fund north of €100,000.
Connacht Hotel (Q.R.) Handicap (Monday 29th July)
Prize money: €100,000
Last year, the Emmet Mullins-trained Teed Up defied a sizable opening price to win the renewal ahead of Mrs John Harrington’s The Very Man and Gordon Elliott’s Shajak. A horse trained by the prolific Willie Mullins has won four of the last seven editions of this race, which is run over 2m 130y.
Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap (Tuesday 30th July)
Prize money: €120,000
In 2023, Dermot Weld’s Coeur d’Or caused a stir on day two of the Galway Festival by winning the 1m 132y event off a starting price of 14/1. Jockey Chris Hayes was in the saddle last year, though Colin Keane has ridden the winner to victory in two of the last five editions of the Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap.
Galway Plate (Wednesday 31st July)
Prize money: €250,000
One of the festival’s most famous and oldest races, the Galway Plate is a steeplechase event that covers a distance of approximately 2m 6f. In 2023, Gordon Elliott’s Ash Tree Meadow took home €159,300 when he secured first place ahead of Willie Mullins’ Authorized Art. Elliott has trained four of the last eight winners of the Galway Plate.
Guinness Galway Hurdle (Thursday 1st August)
Prize money: €300,000
On Thursday, the Galway Hurdle takes centre stage, and the high-profile race, which is keenly contested over a trip of 2m, has the biggest individual prize pot at the festival. Known for producing thrilling finishes, the Galway Hurdle was won by Willie Mullins’ Zarak The Brave in 2023 – however, margins were slim, with Noel Meade’s Jesse Evans running him close. Mullins has been the dominant force in this renewal, winning it six times since 2016.
Guinness Handicap (Friday 2nd August)
Prize money: €100,000
The Guinness Handicap is the stand-out race on Friday’s card at the Galway Festival, and last year Padraig Roche triumphed in the event with his horse Brazil, who was a winner off a starting price of 14/1. Those were the joint-biggest odds of any winner of this race over the past decade.
Galway Shopping Centre Handicap Hurdle (Saturday 3rd August)
Prize money: €100,000
Contested over 2m 6f, the Galway Handicap Hurdle has the biggest pull on Saturday’s card, and last year Ambitious Fellow pocketed €66,000 in prize money for Peter Fahey when he saw off challenges from Bugs Moran and Icare Allen.
Willie Mullins has produced five of the last nine winners of the Handicap Hurdle, though he missed out in each of the last two years to Fahey’s Ambitious Fellow in 2023 and JJ Hanlon’s Hallowed Star in 2022.
Irish Stallion Farms EBF ‘Ahonoora’ Handicap (Sunday 4th August)
Prize money: €100,000
On the festival’s climactic day, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF ‘Ahonoora’ Handicap is the main event, and the extended handicap race for horses aged three and up offers a €66,000 payout for this year’s winner. In 2023, Natalia Lupini’s bay gelding Dunum lived up to his billing as favourite to win the race, ending trainer Adrian McGuinness’ stranglehold on the event. McGuinness had won the Handicap in 2020, 2021 and 2022 before Dunum snapped that run.
Horses to Watch
Brosna Town – Gra Chocolates Handicap (Day One, Monday 29th)
Known as the ‘King of Ballybrit’, Dermot Weld has saddled more than 500 winners at Galway over the course of his career, and the trainer, who turns 76 on the opening day of the festival, could mark the occasion with a winner in the Gra Chocolates Handicap with Brosna Town.
The progressive three-year-old has been making positive strides this summer, and a fourth-place finish at Sligo in May was followed up by a first win at Fairyhouse last month over 1m 4f. A repeat of that performance could reap more dividends in Galway.
Current Option – Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap (Day Two, Tuesday 30th)
Dermot Weld’s Coeur d’Or is back on the card in search of back-to-back wins at the Colm Quinn BMW Mile Handicap, though his form in the lead-up to the Galway Festival has been far from impressive and Current Option could be a better alternative in 2024.
Adrian McGuinness, who has won three of the last five renewals of the race, knows how to pick horses for this event, and although Current Option finished eighth in last year’s iteration, he has been a much improved force this summer, as evidenced by an eye-catching win at Fairyhouse on 7th June.
Perceval Legallois – Galway Plate (Day Three, Wednesday 31st)
Last year’s winner of the Galway Plate Ash Tree Meadow returns to defend his crown in 2024. However, he might struggle to match his performance at the last renewal for Gordon Elliott.
Ash Tree Meadow ran off a mark of 145 and enjoyed a 7lb claimer last year, and by our reckoning, will be 22lbs worse off with a pro jockey in tow this time around.
Instead, preference is given to Perceval Legallois, who is Gavin Cromwell’s only entry in the race. Cromwell’s decision to throw all his eggs into one basket for the Plate feels significant. Perceval Legallois has won at Galway before and was a close second at the Galway Hurdle back in 2022. There is plenty to like about him again this year, and he has more than decent credentials in the ante-post markets at 7/1.
Daddy Long Legs – Guinness Galway Hurdle (Day Four, Thursday 1st)
It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to see Daddy Long Legs enjoying top billing in the ante-post markets for this year’s Guinness Galway Hurdle. Running off a mark of 150, he has been shaping up as the genuine article on faster ground and Willie Mullins’s stable might have yet another Galway winner on the books.
There is a good chance that jockey Paul Townend will take the saddle on Daddy Long Legs, having ridden Zarak The Brave to first place in last year’s edition for Mullins. This combination could be tough to top again, though stablemate Bialystok also has the capacity to produce a big run.
Beacon Edge – Galway Shopping Centre Handicap Hurdle (Day Six, Saturday 3rd)
Peter Fahey won last year’s race with Ambitious Fellow, and while his go-to-horse for 2023, Whatcouldhavebeen, is a promising entrant from the same stable, we’ve given the nod to Beacon Edge.
Trained by Gordon Elliott, Beacon Edge has moved up the gears this summer and the 10-year-old will compete as the horse with the highest rating (142) at Galway. The veteran has finished inside the first two places in four of his six races in 2024, and his triumph at Ballinrobe in May was the sixth hurdles win of his career so far.
Thunderbear – Irish Stallion Farms EBF “Ahonoora” Handicap (Day Seven, Sunday 4th)
Last year’s favourite Dunum is back to defend his crown on the last day of the Galway Festival, though he hasn’t posted another win since achieving glory in this race last year, and there are more attractive alternatives to back in 2024.
Jack Davison’s Thunderbear warrants plenty of respect on his first try at Galway since 2022. The four-year-old gelding was a winner over 5f at Navan in early June ahead of six others, and more promise was shown during his effort at Dundalk on 12th July despite an eventual sixth-place finish there. Thunderbear has been partnering up with formidable jockey Colin Kean this summer and the pairing could do some damage in Galway.
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