Iconic brand Guinness has renewed its sponsorship at the Galway Racecourse for another five years worth €1 million.
The latest agreemennt comes just weeks before the Galway Races Summer Festival Meeting which takes place from Monday July 28 to August 3.
The sponsorship will include the featured Guinness Galway Handicap Hurdle, the richest hurdle in Ireland, which takes place on Ladies’ Day, Thursday July 31, and the Guinness Handicap on Friday August 1.
Long-time race sponsor, Guinness has been involved at the Galway Racecourse since 1965, which racecourse manager John Moloney describes as “long and fruitful”.
“We are delighted to announce that Guinness has renewed its sponsorship with us for a further five years,” Moloney says.
“They have been with us long before I started here and it’s magnificent that we can continue this long and fruitful relationship together.
“We are very proud that every race throughout the week will be sponsored. Without the sponsorship, none of this would be possible. We are very grateful and look forward to a great week of racing at the Galway Festival,” Moloney says.
The meeting will also host the richest flat handicap in Ireland on Tuesday, July 29, The Topaz Mile, while The Tote Galway Plate once again takes centre stage on Wednesday, July 30.
Race Week kicks off with The Galway Best Hotels Race Day on Monday, July 28 with the €70,000 Connacht Hotel Qualified Riders Handicap being the feature event on the card. And new sponsor this year, Colm Quinn BMW, will sponsor the final race of Monday’s card, the €10,000 INH flat race.
Ladbrokes’ Day takes place on Saturday August 2 and the €45,000 Grade C Handicap Hurdle is the feature event of the day. The Race Week concludes with the €100,000 European Breeders Fund ‘Ahonoora’ Premier Handicap to be run over a distance of seven furlongs.
The Galway Race Committee officially launched the seven day Galway Race Week Summer Festival in Gordon Elliott’s Longwood stables in Co Meath, where the trainer paraded his horses that will be running at the 2014 Galway Festival. They included Galway Hurdle hope Bayan and intended runners for the Galway Plate Plan A, Raajih and Cause of Causes.
Gordon Elliott said: “I love running my horses at the Galway Festival because the ground is always fantastic and the prize money is wonderful. It’s the best race meeting of the summer.”
