AND breathe. After a marathon week of 53 races over seven days, the Galway Races are in the books for 2025 - and what an eventful week it was to be reporting in the west.

From the tension of the Galway Hurdle being decided in the stewards’ room to a controversial “starter error” that led to a prominent fancy being left at the start in a €110,000 handicap hurdle on Saturday - as well as incorrect saddles on horses in the pre-parade ring and double-digit suspensions for multiple riders - Ballybrit does drama like few other venues can.

Time and time again, Galway delivers its fair share of popular storylines too, and the 2025 festival was no different. As Ballybrit regular Emmet Mullins summed it up after Filey Bay flew home for an emotion-filled success under Alan O’Sullivan in the day-one feature: “This place throws up the fairytale stories.” He’s not wrong.

Given we’re so used to big meetings being dominated by a small number of operations, one of the most refreshing elements of the entire week was the healthy spread of connections visiting the winner’s enclosure. It made the week all the more enjoyable.

Across 53 races, it was terrific to note that 33 different yards got on the scoresheet. No trainer had more than five winners.

Willie Mullins claimed his 10th straight leading trainers’ title for the festival, even though Gordon Elliott’s five winners was one more than the Closutton team managed across the week. It was a stellar week’s work for the Cullentra handler to complete the Plate-Hurdle double, becoming the most successful trainer in modern Plate history and claiming the €110,000 BoyleSports Handicap Hurdle with rapidly-improving stayer Winning Smut.

Away from National Hunt’s supremeos, though, there were so many big results for smaller outfits.

Andy Slattery’s treble on the week was a just reward for how well his yard has been operating throughout the summer, ending the festival with the same number of winners as Aidan O’Brien, Joseph O’Brien, Gavin Cromwell and Jessica Harrington. The Co Tipperary handler has been excelling with bumper string in particular, and told the press at Galway that his recent debut Ballinrobe scorer Gameball has been sold to continue his career with Basil Holian and Henry de Bromhead.

Lawlor lights it up

Some of the best quotes of the week came from Co Wicklow-based trainer Peter Lawlor after Summer Snow and Murat helped him to a double (and a 100% strike rate) at the 2025 Galway Festival. He only had two bullets to fire at the meeting and had them both in fantastic shape to collect.

After a quiet start to the year in Ireland, with six winners domestically from December 4th to July 5th (though he did have seven in Britain during April), John McConnell really has his string rocking and rolling now. He pulled two aces out of the pack for a brace of his own at Ballybrit with Ballystone (14/1) and Intense Approach (13/2), and came within half a length of bringing up a third winner too when Spanish Princess finished a close-up third in the mile maiden on Saturday. He’s now had an impressive six winners in Ireland in the space of four weeks.

Ciaran Murphy has had more winners in the first half of this year than the entirety of 2024, and has never made any secret of the fact he targets Galway each summer. From a team of 11 individual horses, he was in the money with seven of them and emerged with a double through dead-heater Castleheath (17/2) and hat-trick winner Steps In The Sand (22/1). Like McConnell, he was narrowly denied a treble on the Saturday too when Burren Song was collared in the shadows of the post.

Emmet Mullins is so often the man to fear around here and his Galway stalwart Teed Up brought up a double for him on Wednesday, following Filey Bay’s popular triumph on day one. The week was nearly all the better for him too, with Toll Stone just chinned by a head in a €110,000 handicap hurdle, Chance Another One narrowly denied in a three-mile handicap hurdle on Sunday and seven other runners collecting prize money.

Overseas attraction

Dave Loughnane, originally from Galway, and Richard Fahey showed that British-based trainers are well able to get on the board here with a winner apiece. Cormac Farrell had his biggest track winner with Sticktotheplan, Sean Byrne made one of his only two runners at the meeting count in the shape of Heliogabalus, while Donnacha O’Brien went one step better by striking with his only representative, Kilmeaden.

Ross O’Sullivan won with a fine prospect in Strong Link and several others from his yard ran with great credit in defeat (six others collected prize money, including two seconds). Harry Rogers had a popular winner in the shape of Cleopatra’s Needle, Kevin Coleman celebrated training his first Galway Festival winner with Thatwilldoso and Charles Byrnes pulled off quite the training feat to get Turnpike Trip back to form in the Galway Blazers - one of just three runners from his stable last week.

Dermot Weld had just six runners at the meeting - poles apart from the same picture years ago - but still got a winner on the board through Tilani, while Jarlath Fahey relished a premier handicap victory with Nans View. Noel Meade got a deserved change of luck with Joltin in the two-year-old maiden on Sunday, Joe Murphy arguably had the most impressive juvenile of the meeting Pivotal Attack, and Andrew Kinirons followed up a double at last year’s festival when Blue Moon Boy came home in front on Saturday. Dunum was prepared in tremendous shape by Natalia Lupini to notch his third festival win in the Galway Mile.

Right on time

Aurea Fortuna ensured Tony Martin got on the scoresheet on the final day of a meeting he so often makes an impact at, Denis Hogan thinks the world of his bumper winner Frankie John and Declan Queally has wide-margin handicap hurdle winner Bal Kauto peaking at just the right time. Back on the flat, Johnny Murtagh had Edelak back to his best in the qualified riders’ maiden, Gerry Keane went one better with Genuine Article than was the case 12 months ago, Ger O’Leary picked the perfect moment for Mother Mara to win her first race and Mick Mulvany had enough petrol in the tank with Storm Averted to score on her second start of the meeting.

Even away from the trainers’ table at Galway, there was a tremendous spread of jockeys getting in on the act. A total of 40 different jockeys rode winners at this year’s Galway Festival, Jack Kennedy (four winners) crowned leading rider over jumps and Dylan Browne McMonagle (three winners) shading the flat title over Wayne Lordan (three winners).

Every year, the attraction of Galway runners and winners keeps drawing connections from around the country back to the west. With such a broad range of connections managing to get a taste for the Ballybrit winner’s enclosure this year, you can bet your bottom dollar that the demand for runners will be sky high once again come 2026. After all the drama those of us on track soaked up last week, we might just have caught our breath by then.