CORPORATE hospitality is “all but sold out” for the first six days of the Galway Festival according to general manager Michael Moloney.

Racegoers around the country are set to head west on Monday week for the seven-day festival and following a generally positive half-year statistical report from HRI, Moloney is hoping Galway will feel the benefit of most parts of the industry moving in the right direction.

“We’d be hopeful heading into the festival with regards to attendances. It’s great that we’ve sold out most of our corporate hospitality and ticket sales figures are positive so far as well,” Moloney said.

“The opening Monday evening will be popular as ever, as will Wednesday and Thursday but we have seen big increases in the popularity of Tuesday and Friday evening.

“Last year we had 5,000 increase in attendance for Friday. A lot of people are working during the week and then taking a half day on the Friday and coming to Galway for the weekend. You have a lot of locals attending on Friday as well.”

GROUND

On the track Moloney reports the ground to be in good shape. On Thursday he said: “It’s nice good ground and it’s in great shape. If we were racing today it would be absolutely perfect.”

News of big stables aiming runners towards the two feature events of the week, thetote.com Galway Plate and Guinness Galway Hurdle, is starting to filter through.

Road To Riches will return for a third crack at the Plate (see A10 for update) and last year’s winner Lord Scoundrel will also run, with A Toi Phil another possible runner for Gordon Elliott.

Elliott also plans to run Timiyan, trained by Dermot Weld to win a flat handicap at Galway in 2014, in the Galway Hurdle.

PROJECT BLUEBOOK

With record-breaking prize money on offer – each race is worth at least €15,000 – Moloney is hoping to attract more British runners than last year. Yorkshire-based John Quinn is aiming Project Bluebook, who won a Grade 2 juvenile hurdle at Fairyhouse earlier this year, at the Galway Hurdle. Quinn said: “All being well he will run. We ran him on the flat at Catterick to get him ready and he went well. He’s a good horse - the type you can go for races like the Galway Hurdle with. There is fantastic prize money and we’re looking to bring over a few for handicaps on the flat as well.”

security

Moloney was keen to play down new measures brought in restricting the size of bags people can carry into the racecourse. “We work closely with the Gardaí regarding matters such as these and this is just a precaution. Football and rugby stadiums are doing the same.”

This year’s festival will be the last for the Tote building which is situated opposite the bookmaker’s ring. There are plans for a development costing €6 million involving a new building that will have bar, food and betting facilities. Work will begin as soon as the Tuesday after the festival.