Galway Festival 2025: Day by day guide to the Ballybrit meeting

One of Ireland’s biggest race meetings is just around the corner, the Galway Races Summer Festival beginning on July 28 and running Monday to Sunday August 3. With 53 races and €2.17 million in prize money, ranging from seven-furlong maidens for two-year-old flat horses to three-mile jumps races, there is something truly special about the occasion.

There are many things away from the racing which bring the crowd in, live music in between and after racing, a best dressed competition with a €10,000 prize, a best hat competition worth €3,000 to the winner and a family day to see the week out.

Key races at the Galway Summer Festival:

FLAT

Connacht Hotel (Q.R.) Handicap (2m1f, €110,000)

COLM QUINN BMW Mile Handicap (1m 1/2f, €120,000)

JUMPS

Tote Galway Plate (2m6 1/2f, €270,000)

Guinness Galway Hurdle Handicap (2m, €270,000)

Guinness Galway Blazers Handicap Steeplechase (2m, €80,000)

There are high-quality races each day, with a feature race (worth at least €110,000) on each card, and here is a day-by-day guide to the Galway Races Summer Festival.

Monday

A seven-race evening meeting opens with the Galway Bay Hotel & the Galmont Hotel Novice Hurdle which has produced some smart horses in the last few years, including two-time Grade One winner Mystical Power, who landed the race in 2023.

There is a seven-furlong maiden for two-year-old which Dermot Weld has won six times in the past 14 years, including with Mustajeeb in 2013.

The feature race is the Connacht Hotel (Q.R.) Handicap, a Premier Handicap for amateur riders worth €110,000. Last year, 50/1 shot Sirius landed the pot for Willie Mullins, ridden by David Dunsdon and owned by his family property business at which he is CEO.

Brazil holds an entry for Padraig Roche. In 2023 the JP McManus-owned gelding was pulled-up in the Galway Hurdle before emphatically winning the 12-furlong feature race the following day.

Royal Ascot winner Dawn Rising is another eye-catching entry for the Joseph O’Brien team. The Brits are represented by Jessica Bedi-trained Wahraan, who is yet to run for the North Yorkshire-based yard.

The night concludes with a typically competitive bumper.

Tuesday

Another seven-race evening card is scheduled with the Listed COLM QUINN BMW Novice Hurdle kicking things off. The British-trained challengers landed top spot last year when Gale Mahler won under a great Henry Brooke ride for trainer Adrian Keatley.

A beginners’ chase follows the opener which is one to keep an eye on with some notable winners in the past. Six-time Grade One and Galway Hurdle winner Sharjah won this contest in 2023 for the Mullins-Townend-Rich Ricci combination.

The feature race of the day is the COLM QUINN BMW Mile Handicap, a contest worth €120,000 run over the extended mile. Galway specialist Couer D’Or is entered and is potentially running in this race for the third consecutive year, finishing fourth and first in the last two editions.

Following this, we see more Flat racing finish the night with two further tricky-looking handicaps.

Wednesday

The first of the two feature race days is Galway Plate day and the night meeting is opened up with a maiden hurdle over two miles and five furlongs. Willie Mullins has won four of the last six runnings of the race.

The fifth on the card is the Tote Galway Plate, one of the biggest races for chasers at the Festival. This €270,000 contest currently has 32 entries, notably 10 of which trained by Gordon Elliot, who has won four of the last nine contests.

Current market leader is last year’s Galway Hurdle winner Nurburgring. The Joseph O’Brien-trained horse is looking to become the only horse since Ansar in 2004 to complete to Galway Hurdle and Plate double.

Willie Mullins has Blood Destiny as the shortest-price of his seven runners. He won over fences at the start of June when cantering around to score by 11 lengths.

Jesse Evans is a regular fixture at this meeting and connections have entered him in both the Plate and the Hurdle. He has run in the last four renewals of the Galway Hurdle, finishing eighth, second, second and fourth, and the Noel Meade-trained horse is a big player yet again.

Jazzy Matty is an eye-catching runner too. The Cian Collins-trained horse landed the Grand Annual at the Cheltenham Festival earlier this year and has yet to run over fences since that success.

Two of the main market leaders are Thecompanysergeant for Gavin Cromwell and Down Memory Lane for Gordon Elliot.

The night ends with Flat handicaps over a mile and two miles.

Thursday

An eight-race day fixture is the second of the two feature days – also known as Galway Hurdle day.

The first race is the Guinness Open Gate Brewery Novice Steeplechase, a Grade Three contest over two and a quarter miles. A previous notable winner was Wicklow Brave (a Group and Grade-One winner) who landed the prize in 2019 for Mullins.

The third race on the card is the Listed Corrib Fillies Stakes over the seven-furlong trip. Raknah produced a surprise victory in this race last year, winning at 16/1 for Gary Carroll and Jessica Harrington.

The key race of the day is the Guinness Galway Hurdle, the Grade Three run over two miles, and the €270,000 contest is the richest hurdle race in Ireland.

There are 30 horses entered in this at the time of writing, and it appears to be a very competitive race as usual. The current market leader is Pururhandstogether, who readily won the Fred Winter this year for Joseph O’Brien under a confident Mark Walsh ride.

Willie Mullins trains seven of those entered and an intriguing runner from the Closutton yard is Jalila Moriviere, who has only had three starts for Mullins, finishing fourth in a valuable handicap hurdle last time out.

Two horses are making the trip over the Irish Sea, who will be looking to be the first British-trained trained winner since Overturn in 2010 in record time for Graham Lee and Donald McCain.

Dysart Enos (16/1), trained by Fergal O’Brien, could run for the first time in Ireland and Wilful (12/1) will be hoping to go one better than his second in a Listed Handicap Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival.

Last year’s runner-up Ndaawi is Gordon Elliott’s leading chance, being priced as short as 6/1, and we last saw him finish second behind Kargese in the County Hurdle at the Festival in March.

Hello Neighbour, trained by Gavin Cromwell, is already a Grade-One winner, landing a top juvenile hurdle at Leopardstown’s Dublin Racing Festival in February, and could be making his handicap debut here.

The night concludes with a bumper which produced a major shock last year when 200/1 shot Brave Crogha for Iggy Madden, ending a 2,145-day losing streak for the yard.

Friday

The Bank Holiday weekend starts with an eight-race evening fixture which opens with the James’s Gate Irish EBF Median Auction Maiden over seven furlongs.

The third race of the day is the Guiness Galway Blazers Handicap Steeplechase, a consolation race for those who didn’t get a run in the Galway Plate. This was won by two-time Grade One winner Battleoverdoyen last year for Gordon Elliott.

The €110,000 Guinness Handicap over a mile and a half is the feature race of the day. Former Cheltenham Festival winner Lark In The Mornin, who won the Fred Winter in 2024, is entered for Joseph O’Brien.

Another interesting entry is Ross O’Sullivan’s Chally Chute, who won a Listed race at Roscommon on July 1 at odds of 125/1. A very eye-catching partnership comes in the form of Lope De Lilas, where Willie Mullins has this horse entered for owners Wathnan Racing.

The penultimate contest of the night is the Rockshore Refreshingly Irish Race, and this one mile and six furlong event always has some high-class horses running in it. Last year Taipan fended off Run For Oscar to win by two and a half lengths for Jessica Harrington.

Saturday

The penultimate day is another quality eight-race day card. One of the big changes to the week comes in the second race, the BoyleSports Galway Tribes Handicap Hurdle has been moved from the Friday to the Saturday to allow those who did not get a run in the Galway Hurdle to potentially take part. The 24-hour push back allows for the declarations for the race to be finalised after the Galway Hurdle field is confirmed.

The feature race on the card is the Listed BoyleSports Handicap Hurdle. Last year the very progressive horse The Wallpark won the €110,000 contest, this race the third of his fourth consecutive victories before stepping up to Grade One level.

After this, a maiden is run over one mile, won last year by the Aidan O’Brien-trained Puppet Master, who had subsequent Derby third Tennessee Stud in behind. O’Brien has won eight of the last ten renewals of this contest.

The final race of the day is a mares’ bumper which was won last year by the Willie Mullins-trained Cameletta Vega. She’s since won on hurdling debut and will be looking to emulate the success of her mother, the great Quevega, and half-brother Facile Vega.

Sunday

The seventh and final day is family day, where an eight-race card ends the week on a high. Two competitive handicap hurdles open the day over two miles and three miles.

For the third race of the day, there is a handicap chase over the Plate trip which sees some of the big race’s runners reappear for another crack at Galway glory. Last year we witnessed Hurricane Georgie win this contest just three days after his seventh-placed finish in the Plate.

Final feature contest of the week is the seven-furlong €110,000 Premier Handicap. Micky Fenton won it last year with Physique under Seamie Heffernan, who stole the race from the front to make all in this ultra-competitive handicap.

The Brits have been successful in this race in eight of the last 20 editions. They are coming to win again, with five entries including last year’s winner who has since changed hands and is now trained by Pam Sly.

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