FIFTY years ago Galway was a three-day festival of racing, and racegoers could also take in the races at the now defunct Tuam on the way home on the Friday. There were six races on each day of the Galway festival, each having a feature event.

The three days started with an evening meeting, followed by two days when racegoers had an earlier start. The feature on the first evening was the Player’s Navy Cut Amateur Handicap and the race carried prize money that was just half of the value of the Galway Plate the following day. The Plate was one of the most valuable races run all year in Ireland.

The feature, known widely as the ‘amateur Derby,’ was won by Cecil Ronaldson on the four-year-old Many Mansions. Owned by Mrs James Bennett, the son of My Smokey was trained on the Curragh by Mick Connolly and he was giving the winning rider his second success in the race. Once again the list of riders in the race is one that still resonates today, the runner-up being partnered by John Joe Walsh and the third home was the mount of Dermot Weld.

The hurdle and chase winners on the card, May Drake and Baxier, were trained by Tom Dreaper and Phonsie O’Brien respectively, while Tommy Burns recorded a double in the flat races with On The Map and Scottish King. The latter won the maiden and was partnered to victory by T.P., the trainer’s son. Tommy Burns not only trained the winner, a three-year-old son of Pampered King, but he owned and bred him too.

Paddy Sleator won the concluding Menlo Stakes over an extended two miles with Gentle Boy and the odds-on shot was guided to the win by Liam Ward.

WEDNESDAY

Arkloin, Flying Wild and Splash were among the household names challenging for the Galway Plate on the second day, but there was an upset when jockey Tommy Finn recorded his first win over fences on the eight-year-old mare Cappawhite, the pair holding off Splash by a neck to land the winner’s purse of £1,900.

Denis Murphy owned the winner who was trained by George Spencer, father of Jamie. Cappawhite won four races in her career, a pair each over hurdles and fences, but she proved to be a disaster at stud subsequently, only one of her five foals even reaching the racecourse and she ran with no wins or places in three seasons.

Cecil Ronaldson showed no signs of fatigue if he had celebrated his win in the big race on Tuesday and he came out the following afternoon to ride Goldnagrena to victory in the opening amateur handicap hurdle. John ‘Jack’ Cox, who was to win the Galway Hurdle three times and was the father of Bunny, trained the winner.

The powerful combination of Tom Dreaper and Pat Taaffe won the maiden hurdle with Prince Tino, while Philip McEntee, who was to end the year as the champion apprentice, gained one of the wins that earned him the title on Latin Prince. McEntee was understudy to George McGrath at Glencairn, and McGrath was also on the winner’s list at Galway, this time for Paddy Mullins on Malcolm Thorpe’s Cosy Wrap.

The day’s racing concluded with the Mervue Maiden and Paddy Sullivan rode the Jimmy Lenehan-trained Grizzly to victory. The son of Hard Ridden was bred by Elizabeth Burke at her Stackallen Stud and raced in her name. They won by a neck from They Say, owned by Biddy Meehan who won the Irish Grand National with Sweet Dreams.

THURSDAY

The owner of runner-up Worsted Wizard, B J Coleman, lodged an objection following the Guinness Galway Hurdle to the winner Warkey, owned by Mrs P J Hume and ridden by Frankie Carroll. He alleged ‘bumping and boring’ by the winner, known to racegoers as something of a rogue. Having viewed a televised replay of the race the stewards overruled the objection and the Kevin Prendergast-trained Warkey was declared the winner.

Pat Black was in the saddle when John ‘Jack’ Cox doubled his tally for the meeting with Vulnagrena in the opening Corrib Hurdle. Josh Gifford had to settle for second best in the handicap chase behind Tommy Carberry on the Dan Moore-trained Hot Contact. The winner was owned by Andrew Levins Moore, possessor of the same initials as his nephew Arthur.

Kevin Bell sent out Ambrose to land the 10-furlong handicap and he was to team up with owner Biddy Meehan, mentioned earlier, to win the Irish Grand National.

Mick Kennedy was on board Willya and this four-year-old daughter of Trouville was bred at Newtown Anner Stud by the Silcocks. The stud today is owned by Maurice and Patricia Regan and among the winners bred there in recent years is Fascinating Rock. Willya was trained in the Phoenix Park by Paddy Kearns and later in the year he gave the leg up to 16-year-old Christy Roche when the filly was the shock winner of the Irish Cambridgeshire.

Amateur rider John Harty, an extremely talented horseman who competed at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964, was one of 10 riders to line up for the final event of the three-day meeting, the Moyode Stakes over two miles and 90 yards. The others were Francis Flood, Val O’Brien, Dermot Weld, Cecil Ronaldson, Barry Brogan, Bobby Patton, John Fowler, Andrew McMurrough Kavanagh and Andy Geraghty.

Harty was partnering Hal’s Park, trained by his father Captain Cyril Harty, and the five-year-old prevailed in one of the best finishes of the week, holding off Clifford Nicholson’s Bengal and Michael Dempsey’s Afton Banks by half a length and a neck.

The jackpot at Galway was not won on either the opening or concluding days, but somewhat surprisingly given the 20/1 victory of Cappawhite in the Galway Plate, it was won on Wednesday when the dividend was a juicy £3,056.