IT’S the Galway Races 2021 and we have 7,000 more people in attendance over the week than the 2020 edition but most of us are still banned and ‘at home’.

Even the latest RTÉ racing front man Hugh Cahill is missing from the coverage this week with Hugh on Olympic duty and into the hot seat stepped Ruby Walsh for the first two days. Jane Mangan and Fran Berry are alongside for Monday.

Of course there is a lot missing from Galway 2021. “Galway is about the people, (check?), the crowds (check?), the craic?” Ruby opens the broadcast but you know he knows the score – quickly reminding us it was 19,000 in attendance at Ascot last week, 30,000 in York.

Katie Walsh and Thousand Stars have the coffee booth all to themselves. From what we see online, Galway is still all about craic, just not so much at the races.

Richard Pugh on commentary duty had tweeted his preparations earlier – complete with Nivea Factor 50 – but Monday night Galway was enough to end the heatwave, nothing new there.

The highlight is a flat race but we have six Willie Mullins runners and Hook Up was the choice of Patrick. But Hook Up is fast becoming one of those “this will be the day” Mullins horses that always prove a bit too costly for punters.

Forget Willie, the early days of this Festival meeting are a throwback to times of old. Both Jane and Ruby are deferential – it’s Mr Weld. And Mr Weld again engaged Finny Maguire to partner his Connacht Hotel Handicap winner, Colfer. “Absolutely thrilled to win this race again,” Finny tells Katie.

The team have a bit of banter.

Jane: “It’s not a surprise at this time of year for his team to hit form.”

Fran Berry: “From July they seem to peak, whether it’s a coincidence or not.”

Ruby: “It’s surprising how he times it so well.”

That’d be like Willie timing Punchestown, no?

Tuesday we had a touch of the McNamaras’ band, Emmet and Andy, with Jane as front woman with Ruby. Richard P in the grandstand tells us, “it may look a little empty but I assure you, the crowds are here.”

Brian Gleeson did find a bit of atmosphere in the betting ring – but with eight men standing instead of 90 bookmakers, it’s a long way from the West’s Awake. He does find some racegoers to have travelled from as far as Tyrone.

Fran Berry had tweeted in the afternoon that the first thing he heard coming into Galway was Kevin O’Ryan described as a ‘legend’. Add appropriate emoji!

It didn’t take long for Mikey Sheehy to add his gratitude to agent O’Ryan on partnering 50/1 shot Sirjack Thomas to victory for the Dooley Thoroughbreds in the Colm Quinn BMW Mile.

Shelia Lavery tells us that her winner Moddy Puddle was named after a phrase used by her owner’s granddaughter on the phone from Australia to describe what is left after the rain showers.

We might have thought the biggest question for the sporting week was how Russia morphed into the Russian Olympic Committee but it was trumped by how the three-year-old Aurora Princess ran instead of the two-year-old Alizarine.

All the post-race comments were amusing when viewed after the fact. “Very relaxed around the ring”, “beautiful filly first time out”, “pick of the ring”, “everything seemed so easy”. Yep, when you’ve already won two races, it would!

The phase of the evening was “could not be positively identified” and Ruby put into words what we all were thinking: “How many times do people make honest mistakes before the authorities step in and put something in place to stop it happening?”

The lack of crowds meant a lot of meandering racing folk were identified in the background on the RTÉ coverage through the parade ring and the backdrop wasn’t always the most appealing.

As the Tuesday broadcast ended, Fran could be identified down paddock side in the background, with a face mask dangling from his ear. Ah, Fran, ya dropped the ball, where the sartorial elegance?

Bubba Almond is also caught seated paddock side, on the phone. Now Brian where are you when we need you? That’s the conversation you needed to be eavesdropping on!