Despite all the talk of recession, punters are still expected to gamble a whopping €40 to €50 million at this year’s Galway Races.
The Galway Races kick off today, and according to bookmaker giants Paddy Power, it’s going to be as busy as ever.
Speaking to Galway First last night, Paddy Power of the bookies said he expects this year to be as successful as the previous years. He added he doesn’t expect a drop in gambling at all, as people are just as likely to bet themselves even if they don’t attend the races.
“It always depends on how many people win, if punters win more, they’ll bet more,” he said.
The festival gets under way today, with the two feature races, the €240,000 William Hill Galway Plate and the €220,000 Guinness Galway Hurdle, taking place on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. In total more than €2 million in prize money is up for grabs at the meet.
However local councillor John Mulholland, of Mulhollands was a little more cautious.
“I think that the numbers attending the Galway Races will be up, but the bets will be marginally down,” he said.
Mr Mulholland put the blame on Government for the expected drop. “The Government should have seen this (the downturn ) coming and now it has happened and there were no provisions put aside for a rainy day.
“Although I believe there will be a downturn in money, it will not be huge but it will keep decreasing. There just isn’t the same amount of money being spent.”
Last year 210,000 people passed through the turnstiles, and during the week racecourse manager John Moloney said he would be “happy” to see 200,000 make their way into the Ballybrit course this year.
John Mulholland said that although there are still major punters attending the races, the richer gamblers are not appearing as much or betting as big as they used to. “I’m annoyed that the Government didn’t take corrective measures or that people weren’t doing the job they’re being paid to do.”
He added that all bookmakers went down by nearly 20 per cent in the first six months and it is still in decline. “I hope that the race committee will not raise the prices and that Galway will not take advantage of people just because it’s Race Week.
“The demand is still there and the Galway Races can still be as successful as ever.”
