“ONLY A RALE GOOD HORSE CAN WIN IT”

by Tom Kenny

That was the answer the journalist P.D. Mehigan got when he asked a breeder to explain the magic of the Galway Plate some eighty years ago. An examination of the records bore out that theory for him – no bad horse, or middling horse has ever won the Galway Plate.

“When you walk the searching course the reasons are clear. The undulating surface, the formidable jumps, the fine galloping stretches, the steep fall and demanding rise with two firm leaps one behind the other when horses are tired ; that pinch into the straight, the slope and the fast finishing flat – all these test the best qualities of a true chaser. He must be a clever fencer, with speed and stamina to get home in front of a field that always includes the best horses in Ireland”.

Mehigan went on to say “And Galway Races are unique in Irish sport. For this is a real Connaught holiday. Caravans and their picturesque owners are making the trek weeks ahead. Urgent farm work is abandoned for the hour. Business and professional  men; regular racegoers, hunting folk, farmers of all ranges of acreage, holiday trippers from the eastern cities; Connemara and Aran Island men and maids who speak Irish only are here in colourful buoyant groups. All the fun of the fair; huge fields of beautiful horses; thrilling finishes and good priced winners – all lend glamour and life to this great outdoor festival in the west”.

That sense of excitement goes back to the very first running of the Galway Plate in 1869. “The sweltering heat of early August shimmered over the vast crowd swarming the hill of Ballybrit as the horses thundered by. Out of the multi coloured cavalcade the favourite shot ahead as the roar of the multitude seemed to lift him past the post a narrow winner. That was how Mr. Bell rode his own horse to victory at 3 to 1, carrying 9 st. 11 lbs in a field of 13 runners, for a stake of £166. At that first Ballybrit meeting, John Usher from Eastwell (near Kilrickle) won twice with Ishmael. His son Harry who was renowned as a rider here and abroad came back to Eastwell to take over the running of the family stable. He was the trainer and jockey of Ashbrooke which won the Plate in 1910 and incredibly, he trained a further eight winners of that race, a record that is unlikely to be ever matched.

There was a nice tradition in Ballybrit on the Sunday before the Races when the people who lived locally would wander in and walk around, exploring the facilities, going up to the stand. Many of these people could not afford to go on the stand on a Race day, but on this Sunday they were welcomed by the staff. It showed the Races had a special local as well as national appeal. Today, that appeal is international.

Our drawing was done in 1879, exactly ten years after that first Ballybrit meeting and would be one of the earliest illustrations around associated with the Races. It is taken from the Illustrated London News and gives one a sense of the anticipation of the enormous crowd on the road to the track. And why not? The Galway Races have always been as much a festival as a race meeting and in its 150 years plus history, it has lost none of that magic or appeal. They are a credit to the committee and to the management.

Nár laga Dia bhúr láimhe!