TURF AND SURF

IT'S a pilgrimage. It's my religion," enthuses Dublin engineer Francis Byrne on the train west to the Galway Races.

More than 100,000 punters will join Byrne this week at Ireland's premier summer horse racing festival. For every year without fail, hordes throng the Ballybrit race track, three miles from the City of the Tribes. And this week the constant hum of activity around Galway never wanders too far from the Holy Grail of racing - the sure thing. Punters travel in hope of a financial windfall that rarely materialises.

"I usually stay with the woman who also keeps Richard Dunwoody. I'll give her a ring when I get into Galway. She might have a tip or two for me. Everyone in Galway does," asserts Byrne.

It's a punters' trail steeped in tradition. Approximately 40,000 attended the opening day of the first Ballybrit meeting, on Tuesday, August 17th, 1869. The park in Eyre Square was used as a camping site to accommodate the huge crowds.

That first meeting was an undiluted success, and the Galway races have gone at a gallop since. Nowadays, the action packed programme stretches over six days, running until Saturday.

"It is the most exhausting week of the year," says Helen Quinn from Cork. "From start to finish, you are on the go. It's just constant crack and commotion through the week."

In racing terms, Ireland's leading trainers - Dermot Weld, Jim Bolger, Aidan O'Brien and John Oxx - are well represented, along with top Irish jockeys such as Dunwoody, Tony McCoy and Charlie Swann over the jumps and Michael Kinnane, Christy Roche and John Murtagh on the flat.

It is often said that it is next to impossible to pick out a winner without the help of someone in the know". But Pat Geraghty from Clare has learned to listen with a closed mind.

"I just let all the talk of racing certainties and good each way chances go over my head," he says. "I've learned the hard way down the years. Now, I keep my money in my pocket until I get to the bar."

Funnily enough, the popularity of Galway's race week is not dependent on the standard of racing, which is just about above average. It is the festive atmosphere.

John Gilligan and Simon Hopkins travelled all the way from London. "We just love it here. Myself and Simon came to Ballybrit about 10 years ago, more by chance than anything, when we were touring the west of Ireland," admits Hopkins. "Neither of us is all that interested in racing, but we've still been back four times since then."

For those unable to attend, Galway race committee has had the foresight to become the first race course in Ireland to publicise races on the Internet. Each day the results go out on the World Wide Web immediately after each race. The graphics and text on the Internet were devised by Digital Galway, as it happens, the sponsors of the most valuable race of the week: the £50,000 Galway Plate Handicap Chase tomorrow. You could say this makes Galway the computer friendly meeting.

While people abroad reach out to the Internet anxious to find the latest result, many people at the races have little or no interest in anything equine. Thursday is given over to Ladies Day and the £45,000 Guinness Galway Handicap Hurdle.

"I am only here for the fashion," laughs Deirdre Murphy from Limerick. I wouldn't know the difference between a horse and a hog and besides, the Best Dressed Lady wins as much money as the horses."

Actually, this year Moons of Galway is sponsoring the "Best Dressed Person" competition with prize money valued at £5,000. Gentlemen, please take note of the word "Person". Dresses are optional.

So how does the racecourse cope with the pressure of staging this week long bonanza? Dolores Gillen, who manages the race course office, is quick to point out that Galway Races caters for everyone's needs.

"Well, there are 42 races over the week. That's seven every day with a prize fund of well over £400,000, and there is a Best Turned Out Horse Award for every race. This gives the lads and lasses a chance to win £50 for each horse they turn out." With Tote outlets popping up everywhere, a guaranteed jackpot of at least £25,000 every day and Ladbrokes operating the new betting franchise, Galway is a comfortable place for any punter to place a bet.

Someone who enjoys all the virtues of the week and some of its liquid vices is Mick Ryan from Tipperary. "At the moment, I am living in London for work purposes. But I never miss Galway. Given the choice between Cheltenham and Galway I would take Ballybrit every time. This week is about more than racing although I realise the meeting is nothing without the horses. But there is also something else going on. I think it's the social interaction, the easy nature of the crowd and the friendliness of the locals. That's what makes the Galway Races so special."