Today, Galway Racecourse with special guest National Hunt jockey Patrick Mullins, launched details of their new and exciting three-day October Festival that takes place over the Bank Holiday weekend, Saturday 27 th , Sunday 28 th and Monday 29 th continuing racing and glamour into the Autumn. Each of the three race days offers something for all the family to enjoy, with a special theme attached to each day, together with fantastic horse racing, live music, delicious hospitality, entertainment and of course the meeting of old friends and new at Ballybrit.

Commenting at the launch, jockey Patrick Mullins said

“There’s something special about Galway. With twenty-one races and over €335,000 in prizemoney on offer, I’m looking forward to some great national hunt racing over the Bank Holiday weekend at their new October Festival. I had great success there this Summer and can’t wait to get back to the track”.

Halloween Family Fun

On Saturday 27 th October come along with your children and grand children and enjoy the ‘Spooktacular’ Halloween themed family fun day with lots of entertainment including a fancy-dress competition, Halloween games and face painting to mention but a few!! All weekend children under 16 years of age have free admission.

Race in Pink

As part of this new October Festival and with-it being Breast Cancer Awareness month, Galway Racecourse have partnered with The  National Breast Cancer Research Institute to host a dedicated fundraiser on Sunday 28 th October called ‘Race in Pink’. The National Breast Cancer Research Institute is an Irish charity that raises funds in support of the breast cancer research team lead by Professor Michael Kerin based at the Lambe Institute, NUI Galway. The day has already sold over seventy hospitality tables and gained huge support both locally and nationally with well-known personalities such as RTE’s Tracy Piggott, Tom Lee and former England and Arsenal footballer Martin Keown now all involved in the day. There are lots of ways to support this day such with a fantastic raffle on offer where you can win a Winter Sun Holiday to Lanzarote for two people thanks to Ireland West Airport (tickets are €5 each and on sale now to the public), plus on the day a superb draw with amazing prizes, plus an Auction led by local auctioneer James Heaslip from rom DNG Maxwell Heaslip & Leonard.

Speaking about the upcoming ‘Race in Pink’ fundraiser Professor Michael Kerin said:

“The National Breast Cancer Research Institute is very grateful to the Galway Race Committee for helping us in our efforts to improve diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Based at the purpose built Lambe Institute for Translational Research on the grounds of Galway University Hospital, we are in an ideal position to make important discoveries and make changes that have real implications for breast cancer patients. Our research is relevant to everyone and focuses on such diverse areas as genetics, tumour markers, novel therapies, better diagnostics and reconstruction. We are very excited to partner with such a historic and forward-thinking West of Ireland brand as the Galway Races and hope to make the ‘Race in Pink’ Day a huge success.”

Student Race Day in aid of the Voluntary Services Abroad

Monday sees the return of our annual ‘Student Race Day’ in conjunction with the Voluntary Services Abroad (a medical aid charity run by the fourth-year medical students of NUI, Galway), and the NUIG Rugby Club. Each year, this fundraising day for the student organisations raises a tremendous amount of money for their chosen projects including the VSA annual summer volunteer trip to Africa where they use the funds raised to help projects at the hospitals they visit.

Commenting at the launch, General Manager of Galway Racecourse Michael Moloney said,

“We’ve had a great year and are delighted to now present a fresh, new three-day October Festival to all our supporters and race goers. We’re looking forward to some cracking racing, lots of family entertainment plus raising funds for great causes.”

Over the three-day October Festival at Galway, racegoers can enjoy the usual great facilities each day. Enjoy mouth-watering action on and off the track with our all-inclusive hospitality packages priced at €65 euro per person, where you get to enjoy a four-course lunch in our Panoramic Restaurant. National hunt racing on Saturday kicks off at 2.05pm with racing Sunday and Monday off at 1.05pm. Adult admission on all three days is €15 with children under 16 years of age, free. For more information please check out www.galwayraces.com