I MUST admit to feeling a bit nervous after the first race of the day. There wasn’t the type of crowd around the ring as you might expect and for the people that were there, the only horse they wanted was Easy Game.

It was the whole Ruby factor. I laid a €1,000 and a €2,000 on him at 11/8 and he always looked like the winner. As I said, I was concerned with the crowd there but after the first race they all flocked in.

The new Wilson Lynch building is just behind the ring and it looks magnificent. It could be very good for business in the ring as it seemed to attract more people to our area of the racecourse. When they built the Killinan Stand, it thrived and attracted people around it and this new facility looks like doing the same. The champagne bar is a lovely facility and it will always be popular and hopefully as the week goes on, it will become even more popular.

In all we had a good day and I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the week.

I made a bit back on the second race, won by Storm Rising, but a lot of my colleagues would have lost. The first four home were all in and around 10/1 and would have been laid each-way.

The third race, the maiden won by Zander, was a great result for me. I laid each-way bets on Wargrave and Power Of Now, but significantly managed to take plenty on the favourite Mount Tabora at 5/2 and 9/4 and he never looked like winning. Zander’s SP was 10/1 but the last price I had up was 12/1.

Premier League was a bad result for many but I managed to anticipate and was able to soften the blow. He was available at 16/1 on Sunday and he went off 5/1, backed down from 10/1 on the day. That takes some doing at Galway.

I lost a bit on the race but on the other hand I was delighted for the Mulvanys – no relation! They’re good people and Michael is having a fantastic year.

The feature race was the main betting race of the day and as you can imagine, we did quite well. I laid a couple of €2,000 bets on Limini at 9/4 and she was by far the worst result along with Azzuri who plenty each-way on. There was nothing really around for Uradel who I held up 12/1 so it was a big result. Luke McMahon is obviously a colleague of mine and so it was great to see young Aubrey do the business again. It was a great ride.

The cherry was taken off the cream when Baba Boom won the next. I laid him plenty from 4/1 to 3/1 and he won well but we then had the best result of the day in the last. I’d already laid a €2,000 bet on Royal Rendezvous at 6/4 for a client before racing. I laid another even €5,000 and with the horse shortening up fast I was in a position were I had to take a chance and stand him up. He never really got going and never looked like winning so it was great end to a positive day.

I had a few beers and dinner with some colleagues but I don’t go as mad as I used to in Galway. I love the place for the same reason anyone else does. It’s a fabulous racecourse, it’s a fabulous city and there’s just a great buzz about the place.