Despite high expectations for one of the premiere events of the summer the economic downturn and the environmental downpours led to a major drop in Tote taking and attendance at this year’s Galway Races.
Up to €50 million was expected to be gambled off at this year’s Galway Races but with tough times hitting the whole country and weather putting a 'damp'-er on many punters’ moods, the famous week-long racing festival took an inevitable hit.
Thursday's Ladies Day, the busiest day of the festival every year, saw tote betting down by an astounding €300,000, a drop of 20 per cent from last year. And torrential downpours on the day led to a sharp drop in the number of people who attending Thursday’s races, with the mud and rain leading to a number of punters and fabulously frocked ladies leaving before the last few races had even begun.
And while Wednesday, the second busiest day thanks to the big Galway Plate race, saw an increase in attendance, the race-goers did not seem inclined to take a risk on their slimming pockets as Tote figures dropped by a quarter of a million and bookies lost out on nearly half a million from last year.
However, not everyone is feeling the pinch just yet. Despite losing a million euro on the Galway Plate, a spokesperson from Paddy Power bookmakers said their figures were actually up last week.
“We had a lift in our turnover compared to last year’s figures and find that our takings tend to go up every year," they said. And Mr Paddy Power himself, didn't appear to be hurting too badly at Thursday’s festivities where he sipped numerous €100 bottles of expensive bubbly with colleagues in the champagne tent.
"We're flying with business this year. We've been very busy," Mr Powers said.
