Galway Festival going ahead as horseracing returns on course in Ireland
THE famed Galway Festival will go ahead as planned this year in July with the proviso that all will not be what it has been in other years.
Irish horseracing legend Ruby Walsh
Horseracing in Ireland was given the nod to resume on 8th June by the Irish government, the first race to run at Naas Racecourse in Kildare, Ireland.
In a statement from the Galway Festival, the race meetings for a full seven days will be like no other when it happens behind closed doors.
“In light of the evolving situation regarding Covid-19, for public health and safety reasons we have made the difficult but unavoidable decision that the Galway Races Summer Festival, due to be held from Monday 27th July to Sunday 2nd August will not be able to take place as an event open to the general public this year,” read the statement. “We know this will be a huge disappointment for our racegoers that experience the electric atmosphere here year on year.”
Racing will be happening around the country up to and after the Galway Festival, which will include four days of flat races and four of National Hunt.
National Hunt will feature on the Galway Festival racecard along with flat racing
Jason Morris, Director of Racing at Horse Racing Ireland has confirmed that there will be more National Hunt fixtures this summer than in the same period last year, saying: “There will also be 22 National Hunt fixtures and 53 flat meetings programmed between 22nd June and the end of July compared to the equivalent of 17 meetings in the same period last year to cater for the demands of the jumps horse population. There will be eight-race cards run at every opportunity where stable capacity allows with the protocols requiring one stable per horse for hygiene reasons.”
Betting will be available online through a variety of bookmakers.
See the full fixture list for June and July at https://hri.ie.
