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Galway racecourse can be described as a wonderful enigma. Located in the far west of Ireland, two hundred and seventeen kilometres from Dublin, Galway should have trouble in attracting crowds to its race meetings, and yet, nothing could be further from the truth.
During each calendar year the course stages three multi day meetings. The most important and prestigious is the Galway Summer Festival. This incredible event starts on the last Monday of July, and runs for seven consecutive days. Popular support for the festival is immense, and it is best described as a unique fusion of horse racing with the very best social occasion you can ever imagine.
Featuring top quality races like the historic Galway Plate, the seven day meeting is reputed to bring Ireland to a standstill, and a walk through the parade ring area on any day of the meeting confirms the opinion Galway races certainly attracts race-goers from every walk of life.
The relaxing and intoxicating atmosphere of the Galway Festival is truly unique, an it is a treat which should be sampled by every true race goer at least once in their lifetime.
The seven day festival in high summer is very adequately supported by a three day meeting in late August or early September and a two day fixture in late October.
Despite its relatively remote location, the area around Galway has a very long history of horse racing. Some records suggest two horse matches under Kings Plate Articles were being staged near Galway as early as the thirteenth century.
In 1764, a five day race meeting took place at Knockbarron, near Loughrea, and for many years prior to 1868, archives suggest annual race meetings were held at Kiltulla, east of Ballybrit.
However, severe flooding during 1868 caused the race meeting to be switched to Bush Field, near Oranmore. The success of this meeting stimulated the imagination of Lord Saint Lawrence, the member of parliament for Galway. With the help of his many friends from Punchestown and the Galway Hunt, he organised the first two day Galway Festival. This event took place on land at Ballybrit which had been donated by Captain Wilson Lynch. The first days racing took place on the seventeenth of August 1869. To everyones surprise, a staggering crowd of forty thousand attended the initial day of racing. To accommodate the crowds, Galway public park had to be converted into a camp site for the thirty five thousand who attended the second day of the meeting.
After 1869, the success of the Summer Festival meeting was duplicated year on year. By 1959, public demand led to the expansion of the Festival into a three day event. It then started to take on the mantle of an institution, and by 1999, it had become the current seven day festival of racing.
All Galway meetings attract top trainers, top jockeys, and very good horses, but in recent years, it has been Dermot Weld who has made himself the Master Trainer at Galway, and his runners are always worth consideration.
Galway stages both flat and national hunt races.
The adjacent flat and national hunt courses are run right handed over an almost rectangular shaped circuit which measures one mile two furlongs in circumference.
Using the finishing line as a starting point for a circuit, the flat course remains level for the first five and a half furlongs, then four and a half furlongs from the winning post, the track takes a steep descent for the next one and a half furlongs. This section of the course is known as the Dip, and it proceeds a three furlong climb around the home turn to the winning post.
In seven furlong and one mile races, high drawn horses have a slight statistical advantage.
The national hunt course has the same undulations as the flat course. To describe the bends, we use the finishing line as the starting point for a circuit. One furlong into the circuit, the home straight ends, and there is a sharp bend to the right. The second bend into the back straight is relatively easy, but between the four furlong and three furlong from home posts, there is a long but sharp third bend. Finally, just after the two furlong from home mark, there is another sharp bend into the home straight, and this leaves a straight up hill run in of one and a half furlongs to the winning post.
The steeplechase course has seven fences, and the two fences located in the 'Dip' are believed to have the closest proximity of any two fences in national hunt racing, and this fact alone dictates winners at Galway must have sound jumping ability.
The hurdles course has six flights.
The listings below do not include the facilities available to Annual Members, or Owners and Trainers.
Completed and opened in 2007, the Killanin Grandstand offers terraced viewing for seven thousand spectators, plus there is a balcony position which seats a further seven hundred.
The millennium Grandstand accommodates eight thousand on its standing terraces, and a further two thousand in its first floor seats.
Both grandstands give excellent views over the racecourse, and all ticket holders can visit the parade ring and winners enclosure.
Corporate clients can book tables of ten in the Plate Suite on the second floor of the Killanin Grandstand, or alternatively, they can book similar facilities in the Hurdle Suite on the third floor of the same grandstand.
Corporate hospitality facilities are also available in the Blazer Suites, or the Blazers Pavilion - full details are available on request.
The Killanin Grandstand also boasts several public food and drink facilities. The restaurant on the first floor offers, a la carte, or carvery menus, plus full bar facilities. On the ground floor, a large take away fast food facility incorporates a well stocked bar, and an area to purchase tea and coffee.
On the top floor of the Millennium Grandstand, the Panoramic Restaurant provides superb views over the course while diners enjoy silver service fine cuisine in
air conditioned luxury. Also on the same floor, the Corrib Bar is available to
race-goers using the reserved seating area.
On the second floor, access to the seating balcony is available through the Aran Bar. This latter facility serves hot snacks and a full selection of drinks. Also located on the second floor is the well stocked Kinvara Bar.
The Seafood and Champagne Bar is accompanied on the first floor by the Ballybrit Bar.
On the ground floor, the Long Bar serves hot food, tea and coffee, and has an extensive range of beers, wines, and spirits.
In the Amenities Building , to the rear of the Millennium Grandstand, there is a buffet and carvery restaurant. Other facilities to the rear of the grandstands include, the Self Service Restaurant, and Racers Fast Food Restaurant.
At the Summer Festival meeting, there are several public marquees and tents, including, a Champagne Tent adjacent to the Mayors Garden, the Guinness and Oyster Bar, which serves the famous stout along with fresh Galway oysters, or smoked salmon and brown bread. Near the Tote Building and Parade Ring, there is another Champagne Tent, the Budweiser Bar, and the Beef Cut facility.
Galway racecourse is disabled friendly, and there is wheelchair access to most facilities. This includes lift access to all floors of both grandstands.
There are two designated viewing platforms, one next to the parade ring, and the other adjacent to the Stewards Stand.
Disabled toilet facilities are available in all areas.
Monday 25 July
Tuesday 26 July
Wednesday 27 July
Thursday 28 July
Friday 29 July
Saturday 30 July
Sunday 31 July
Saturday 27 August
Sunday 28 August
Monday 29 August
Saturday 22 October
Sunday 23 October
Located beside the Galway to Tuam road, the racecourse is around six kilometres to the east of Galway city centre.
Road links to Galway include the N6, and N17.
Galway railway station is served by regular train services from Dublin Heuston station. Direct services also operate from many other Irish towns and cities.
For full details of Bus Eireann services in Galway, please telephone Galway bus station on: 091 562 000.
On each race day, a shuttle bus service operates between Galway city centre and the racecourse.
A connecting bus service also operates from the railway station to the racecourse.
Galway airport has several daily Air Aran flights to and from Dublin. There are also daily connections to Belfast, Birmingham, Cork, Edinburgh,
Leeds Bradford, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Southampton.
Galway airport is just over three kilometres from the racecourse.
Subject to obtaining prior permission from the racecourse management, helicopters may land at the racecourse.
Offering unrivalled personal service, the Glenlo Abbey is Galway’s only five star hotel, and is the obvious choice for discerning race-goers seeking superior accommodation during their visit to the Galway races. Glenlo Abbey Hotel provides the opportunities for guests to enjoy total relaxation orsporting activity, while also offering access to the vibrant heart of Galway City, or the wild nature of magnificent Connemara National Park.
The 46 guest rooms and suites at the Glenlo Abbey Hotel offer five star space and comfort, along with unrivalled views of the colourful and dramatic landscape of Western Ireland. In particular, our lake view rooms give a panoramic vista of lower Lough Corrib, Connemarra, and on a clear day, Croagh Patrick. All of the hotels rooms feature marble en suite facilities, remote controlled television with cable and satellite channels, and the kind of room amenities discerning guests would expect from a superior five star hotel. For that extra bit of luxury, Suites are available on every floor of the hotel, with full details being available through our website. Naturally, the hotel offers a comprehensive 24 hour room service menu, complimentary wi-fi, car parking and valet.
When it comes to dining, the Glenlo Abbey Hotel has no equal in the West of Ireland. The Pullman Restaurant aboard the Orient Express dining car is truly Ireland’s most unique restaurant. While the River Room Restaurant has the structure and atmosphere to take you back to by-gone days. Both restaurants offer a superb cullinary experience, as our Executive Chef, and his dedicated brigade of young chefs, provide creative flair and imaginative and unusual dishes lovingly created from the very best local ingredients, and then served with great care and attention to detail. Formerly the old kitchen of the Main House, the Oak Cellar Bar and Lounge is now a warm and cosy spot for before and after dinner drinks, and lively conversation. Alternatively, overlooking the ninth and eighteenth greens of the golf course, the Kentfield Cocktail Lounge provides a very interesting venue in which to enjoy pre and after dinner cocktails.
Glenlo Abbey also offers a 138 acre lakeside golf estate, and the hotel can arrange golf on the nine hole double green parkland golf course, tuition on the driving range, clay pigeon shooting, archery, and some of the best fishing in Western Europe.
For further details on the Glenlo Abbey Hotel, or to book directly, use the link below.
The ideal oasis for race-goers attending racing at Galway, the four star Radisson SAS Hotel & Spa, Galway offers superb accommodation overlooking Lough Atalia, and Galway Bay. The hotel offers good access to the local main road network, and is just fifteen minutes travel from Galway Airport. For guests wishing to combine their visit to the races with shopping and entertainment, the hotel is just a short 2minutes walk from Galway city centre.
Due to its imaginative design, many of the hotel’s well appointed en suite guest rooms provide good views of Lough Atalia and Galway Bay. All rooms offer remote controlled television with satellite channels, Wi-Fi broadband internet access, a mini bar, and the standard room amenities discerning guests would expect from a superior four star hotel. The hotel also provides Family Rooms, Accessible Rooms for guests with low mobility requirements, and one bedroom and two bedroom Duplex Apartments within the hotel complex. For guests seeking the ultimate in luxury, the hotel’s Panoramic Level 5 Suites have private terraces, a host of opulent extras, and attentive personal service.
Galway is famous for its se food, and so is Restaurant Marinas. Offering a range of fresh local fayre, including; Galway Bay oysters, wild salmon, muscles, scallops, red snapper and monk fish, the restaurant also provides a selection of dishes influenced by culinary delights from all over the world. The Atrium Bar and Lounge opens up on to a heated terrace overlooking Lough Atalia and it provides the most perfect views of sunsets over Galway Bay. The Veranda Lounge & Terrace is the perfect place to relax, with its soft furnishings, an open fireplace, and pink chandeliers; it provides a superb venue for every occasion in which guests can enjoy a selection of cocktails, beers, wines, fine Irish stout, or Irish whisky and spirits.
The hotel’s award winning spirit one spa is considered by many to be Ireland’s most luxurious and exclusive Spa. Located in its eastern wing relaxation area the facility provides the ultimate in therapies in its thermal suite and 12 luxurious treatment rooms. While the spirit one fitness and leisure Centre gives residents access to a swimming pool, children’s pool, Jacuzzi, steam room, sauna, outdoor Canadian hot tub, and a fully equipped gymnasium.
For further details visit:
http://www.radissonhotelgalway.com