For me the Galway races is where it all began! 10 years ago, I packed my suitcase and boarded a flight from Leeds Bradford airport to Dublin ready for 3 days at the Galway races with my good friend Chloe Hester, who was still Osborne at the time. We had met whilst on our travels out in Australia through a mutual friend, Tom Ryan, another Galway man! 

My best friend Zoe Winston was secretary for Gordon Elliott at the time and she collected me from the airport and we headed West. Little did I know what was about to happen! Chloe was staying in Ganty stud and producing show cobs for Bill Bourns at the time, Bill was running the Galway Blazers hunt kennels also. After a few mad days at the Galway races I realised…… Galway had stolen my heart! I intentionally missed a few more flights home that week and eventually the party was over, or so I thought! Bill Bourns suggested that I came back and did a season as Groom for the Galway Blazers, I took no persuading, and I stayed! 

Galway quickly became my home, the city, the atmosphere, the nights out, the lifestyle, the racing, but above anything, the people. There are so many good people in Galway I couldn’t even begin to name them, but those who played a part in my journey, know who they are! 

Needless to say, Race week was always my favourite week of the year! 7 days of racing in Galway is hard to beat! When I wasn’t working in racing, I would be at the races everyday, and in town every night! Luckily enough my race weeks are very different now, as I wouldn’t be able for the town every night bit any more! 

These days, Galway race week involves me driving up and down from Waterford to Galway several times in the week, with a team of horses from the Henry de Bromhead yard, in the desperate search of a winner! The racing is top quality for a summer festival, you’ll see horses there that you will see again in Cheltenham or Aintree, you’ll see horses that you have watched all summer come into their glory, or fall apart under the pressure of such top quality racing, you’ll see Jockeys, trainers and stable staff alike doing all they can to cross the line in front in Ballybrit. The other thing you’ll see is atmosphere, loads of it! Owners and Joe public alike bring something to Galway that is like very few other racecourses! The craic is 90 in there for the full 7 days, and if you haven’t experienced it for yourselves, take this as a sign that you should!!! 

Some of my most favourite memories happened in Galway, many of which are stories which can never be told! One of my most fondest memories of the Galway races is leading up Ilikedwayurthinkin’ for Gavin Cromwell when I was based with him, to win twice in the week-long festival for owner JP MacManus. 

One of my least favourite memories of Galway was during the behind closed doors festival, watching the Galway plate without the usual buzz of Ballybrit was wrong on every level, it was as though someone had taken away the excitement or something. 

Last year, I took Jack de Bromhead with me on a day to Galway in the lorry; he had planned to go with Henry in the car, but when he realised the lorry was leaving first, his plans soon changed! For me, that sums up how everyone feels about Galway! Jack was keen to get down there and meet his friend Dylan O’Connor, who he often competed against pony racing. Sam, who works for Henry was coming with me that day, and enjoyed Jacks company as much as I did, the passengers in a lorry would make a journey pass much quicker or slower depending on who they were, Jack had an incredible ability to make a long journey feel even longer with the stereotypical ‘are we nearly there yet?’ we came to expect at least 5 times an hour for the journey! He once asked so many times in one journey that he actually stopped asking, with this, I wondered, had he fallen asleep? I took a peek across the cab at him to establish that he had actually put our destination into the google maps on his phone and was answering the question himself every minute!

Today is day one, of another 7 day adventure of the Galway festival, for those young enough still to make 7 days and 7 nights, I envy you! For the racing industry, including myself, we are preying for the rain to swerve the west of Ireland for a few days, for once, and allow the track the chance to make 7 days of racing possible. For the public attending on any day, be lucky!! 

Happy Galway folks!!