IRISH RUGBY internationals Ronan O’Gara and Tommy Bowe will help launch the Galway Races later this evening.
The two men will be among a host of sports stars who will be interviewed by Daithí Ó Sé in Ballybrit to get the seven-day festival off to a flying start.
Organisers are hopeful that the races, which have been running since 1869, will again beat the recession. More than 140,000 paying customers passed through the turnstiles last year and while this was down from the high of 175,000 the previous year, officials were happy with the numbers given the current economic turmoil. The racing festival is worth around €60 million to the city.
Racecourse manager John Moloney said they were confident they would at least match last year’s figures. “Ticket sales are on a par with this time last year. Ladies’ Day on Thursday is again the most popular. We had 42,000 here on that day last year and it will be around the same this year.”
The famous tented village has already been a victim of the recession and management are keeping their fingers crossed that good weather will keep crowds up.
There will be 51 races over the seven days and a new traffic plan will come into operation this year following the opening of the M6 motorway from Dublin.