Meet the team behind the glitz and glamour of the Galway Races

Are ye ready?”

That’s the question that everybody was asking Michael Moloney just days before the turnstiles opened and 150,000 people descended on Ballybrit for the week of the Galway Races.

Worth an estimated €54m to the local economy and responsible for 1,500 jobs from start to finish, by the time the last race is run on Sunday, there will have been 70,000 meals served, five tonnes of Irish beef consumed, over 5,000 bottles of champagne quaffed and €15m placed in on-course bets as 800 horses compete in 52 races for a record prize fund worth over €2m.

But behind all the glitz and glamour is a small but dedicated team that work year round to pull it off.

REARED ON THE RACETRACK

“We’re already planning things for 2018 – we’re even planning things for 2019,” admits MD Michael, who was literally reared at the racecourse after his family left their farm in Knocklong, Co Limerick, and moved into a house on-site when his father John became manager in 1989.

“When I was 10 or 11 years of age, I started cutting lawns here around the racecourse and I slowly progressed on from there,” says Michael, who managed Plumpton racetrack in the UK before returning home in 2015 to take the reins – literally – after his father’s retirement.

“I’ve been here since I was four years of age. I was very lucky to get the position and to get the job, but I suppose I had a good understanding of the racecourse having grown up with it and I knew all the staff,” he says.

And he explains that it’s all hands on deck – or rather, on track – to make sure everything runs as smoothly as a Ruby Walsh winner.

“You could have people on course at 4am to start watering the ground and they mightn’t go home again until one or two o’clock at night,” says Michael.

“It is a 24 hour site; as soon as we’re finished, the cleaners move in and they’ll work during the night to make sure that the place is ready for the following morning.”

LOYAL & LONG-SERVING STAFF

Of course, Michael is not the only person on staff with a long connection to Ballybrit.

Accounts executive Annette Ferrick started working at the racecourse part-time in 1994, and her role in the lead-up to the festival involved everything from employing the part-time staff to booking bands and co-ordinating helicopter landings.

She grew up “a mile over the road” and would come across the field to the races as a child to see her father, who worked there rolling the track.“And have our few little bets,” she laughs.

“We’d be listening for the helicopter and the most famous person we knew that time was Thelma Mansfield. We’d hear a helicopter and we’d say: ‘Oh there’s Thelma.’”

Though for administration executive Michelle Clohessy, Ballybrit stirred up quite different memories when she came here first for a summer job.

“I always associate the racecourse with exams, because that’s where we used to do our exams for college,” laughs the Clare woman, who is working her third festival and has been fielding phone calls on everything from car parking to last-minute accommodation options.

“For most people it’s like their week off, while for us it’s like our Christmas,” she smiles.

Another staffer who was only meant to stay a summer is Sandra Ginnelly, who is originally from Belmullet, Co Mayo.

Thirteen years on, she is office manager as well as Michael’s PA, and says that after 12 months of preparation, nothing beats seeing the turnstiles open and the punters streaming in. “And the roar of the crowd then at the first race,” adds Sandra.

Another Mayo woman on board is Aisling O’Shea, who landed a summer job for the festival after studying event management in GMIT.

Having previously attended ladies day, she was enjoying working behind the scenes for the first time, with her list of jobs ranging from organising race cards and trophies to car park passes. “I think plenty of chocolate and coffee and energy drinks will get us through it,” she says.

Though?

“It’s dangerous in here: you could put on a half stone during the week,” quips Carmel Moylan, who returns to Ballybrit every summer to work in the office. She has her own secret to surviving the long days of race week.

“I just tell everyone at home: ‘Look after yourselves!’” she declares, adding that she thinks a stint at Ballybrit should impress on any CV.

“I think employers, if they see that you worked at the races, know that you worked hard,” she laughs.

One recent recruit is newly appointed sales and marketing manager Sinead Cassidy, who worked at Navan, Naas and Punchestown racecourses, as well as the National Ploughing Championships and The g Hotel before landing her dream job.

She explains how this year’s festival has featured a number of new elements, including a spectacular opening ceremony, “Gather Your Tribe”, charity zorbing for the Injured Jockeys Fund, increased family entertainment and a new shopping village alongside the racing fixtures. Though, of course, all eyes will be on the competition off the track on ladies day this Thursday.

“I was talking to a few milliners and they were getting orders back in January,” says Sinead of the planning involved by some of the most serious contenders.

But even if you decide to leave the heels and hat at home, Sinead believes the reason that the Galway Races is celebrating 148 years this summer is that it is “a festival for everyone”.

“It’s the annual Mecca,” she says. “If you’re from Galway and living abroad, you’ll come back for the races because you get to meet everyone. It’s the week people plan around their outfits, where they’re going to eat, where they’re going to socialise.

“You come here, you might not even see a racehorse! It’s who you’re going to bump into.” CL

www.galwayraces.com