Galway boss sympathetic to owners as demand surges for festival handicap places

Galway manager Michael Moloney has sympathised with connections balloted out of the festival, as a surge in demand for handicap places made qualifying more difficult than in recent years.

A return to unrestricted crowds for the seven-day meeting seems to have driven increased demand from owners, with Galway handicaps more attractive than during the past two Covid-impacted years.

Being rated 78 was enough to get a run in the day-one feature Connacht Hotel Handicap last year, but a mark of 83 has not been sufficient to guarantee a run for two contenders this season.

On the same card, 5lb separates top and bottom weight in the Easyfix Handicap Hurdle, a race with a safety limit of 20 runners that attracted 74 entries.

With mixed cards returning to Galway after a two-year hiatus, handicaps that were previously divided have not been split in 2022.

There were 67 entries for 18 spaces in Tuesday's Caulfield Industrial Handicap, confined to horses rated 70 or lower. A mark of 67 is the benchmark for getting in this year, compared to 58 when the race was divided last year, and 64 when not divided in 2019.

The lowest rating guaranteed a run in the Caulfieldindustrial.com Handicap on the card is 74, but a mark of 71 was sufficient last year, and a divide in 2020 meant horses rated 56 and 57 got a run.

Moloney said: "It's good in one sense and disappointing in another because we know so many people would love to have a runner at Galway but haven't got in.

Michael Moloney: 'We're well ahead of where we were at this point in 2019 when it comes to advance sales'Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"It's great to see the demand there, but we feel for those who can't have a runner. Racing at Galway has been competitive for a long time, but even more so in recent years."

After racing behind closed doors in 2020 and hosting just 1,000 spectators each day last year, Moloney is champing at the bit to welcome back a bumper crowd.

"I don't think we realised how much we missed this until the last couple of weeks with the build-up," said Moloney. "The place looks amazing. We're well ahead of where we were at this point in 2019 when it comes to advance sales, but I don't know yet what that will equate to on the day."

Following 12mm of rain on Saturday night, the going at Galway was described on Sunday as good on the chase course, good to yielding on the hurdle course, and yielding on the Flat track.

Speaking just before noon on Sunday, Moloney said: "The track looks great. We've had a nice bit of rain overnight and we're getting some heavy showers this morning. It's definitely going to be on the easy side."

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