Galway Races: The Summer Festival at Ballybrit, Day by Day

The Galway Races run for seven days, Monday to Sunday, from the last Monday of July at Ballybrit, about 6 km north-east of Galway city. Our tips for the meeting go up each morning in the feed below once the cards are declared, and the rest of this page covers the course, the two big handicaps and the arithmetic of betting into large fields.

Galway Races today: cards and selections

Racing wire

Meetings are posted here each morning from the official fixture list.

When Ballybrit is racing, the panel shows the day's card, race times and our view of each race. On other days it stays empty or shows the next fixture from the feed. For the start times of every meeting in the country, the racecards page is the place to look; race times at Galway are set per day and we do not reprint them from memory.

When the Galway Races run

The summer festival starts on the last Monday of July and finishes on the Sunday. In 2026 that meant Monday 27 July to Sunday 2 August; Galway Racecourse lists Plate Day 2027 as Wednesday 28 July, which places next year's festival in the same slot.

Ballybrit is not a one-week course. Galway also races for two days in September and again in October, but the summer meeting is the one that fills the city, and it is the one this page is about.

Ballybrit racecourse: a dip and a climb

The track is right-handed and about a mile and three furlongs round. Its defining feature is the run-in to the finish: a steep drop into a dip, where the last two fences stand, followed by a sharp uphill climb to the line. Horses that jump fluently downhill and still have something left for the hill are the ones that suit. Big, long-striding types that want a galloping track may find it awkward.

Course form therefore carries extra weight. A horse that has run well at Ballybrit before has at least shown it handles the dip and the climb, and that is one question fewer to answer. The draw matters less over jumps than on the Flat, but on a track this tight, a runner that is caught wide on the turns covers more ground than the ones on the rail.

Going is the other variable. A summer festival does not mean fast ground; the official going is published by the racecourse and updated through the week, and it can change between the first race on Monday and the last on Sunday. Read it each morning rather than once.

The Galway Plate and the Galway Hurdle

The Galway Plate is a handicap chase over about 2m 6.5f, first run in 1869, and it is the centrepiece of the Wednesday card. Betting on the Galway Plate opens before the week itself, and the usual ante-post caveat applies: a horse that misses the race is a losing bet unless the bookmaker offers non-runner no bet.

The Galway Hurdle is a handicap hurdle over about two miles with nine flights, first run in 1913, and traditionally the Thursday feature. Both races attract large, closely handicapped fields, so a narrow view on one horse needs a price to match.

Pricing a Galway handicap each-way

Big fields change the sums. Standard terms for a handicap with 16 or more runners are usually four places at 1/4 of the odds; with 12 to 15 runners it is three places at 1/4, and with 8 to 11 it is three places at 1/5. Bookmakers set their own terms, so read the bet slip.

Take an example at 14/1 with EUR 10 each-way, EUR 20 staked, in a field of 16 or more. A winner returns EUR 150 on the win half and EUR 45 on the place half (14/1 divided by four is 7/2), EUR 195 in all. A fourth-placed finish returns EUR 45 from the EUR 20. Check your own sums on the bet calculator before committing.

Race times and tomorrow's card

During festival week each day's card, Plate day included, appears in the feed above with its race times. Tomorrow's card at the Galway Races joins the feed once runners are declared. We do not cover the fashion side of the week, the best dressed competitions included; that belongs to the racecourse itself.

Licensed bookmakers for the Galway Races

The firms on the card hold remote betting licences from the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, required for any online bookmaker serving Irish customers since 1 July 2026, and each has a racing product. Several are Irish-owned: BoyleSports has its head office in Dundalk, as does the independent Bar One Racing. The licence covers betting only. Background on the register is on our licensing page.

No.	Runner	Form	Licence	Verdict	Links
1	Paddy PowerPPB Counterparty Services Limited	1-1-2-2-3	GRAI licence (betting)	NAP	Visit
2	bet365Hillside (Europe) ENC	1-1-2-2-3	GRAI licence (betting)	NAP	Visit
3	BoyleSportsBoylesports (Gibraltar) Limited	1-2-1-2-3	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
4	LadbrokesLC International Limited	1-1-3-2-4	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit
5	Bar One RacingBar-One Racing Limited	1-3-5-5-5	GRAI licence (betting)	Each-way	Visit

Form reads licence, markets, payments, safer-play tools, terms; 1 is best. How we rate. 18+ only.

A week of racing is a long time to keep a stake under control. Bet only if you are 18+, decide the week's budget on the Monday, and use the limits described on our responsible gambling page if the plan slips.