Galway chief hails ball in aid of Graham Lee a 'massive success' and reports positive attendances and betting turnover

Galway chief executive Michael Moloney described last week's summer festival ball in aid of former jockey Graham Lee as a "massive success" and is already looking ahead to next year due to interest in a repeat.

Lee, who grew up close to Ballybrit in Mervue, suffered life-changing injuries in a fall at Newcastle last November and Galway staged the event to raise money to ease the financial burden on his family.

The Grand National-winning jockey, who landed the Galway Hurdle in 2010 on board the Donald McCain-trained Overturn, appeared on a video message on the night, which was hosted by television presenter Grainne Seoige along with ITV and RTE betting pundit Brian Gleeson. 

President of the UK Injured Jockeys Fund Sir Anthony McCoy and chairman of the Irish Injured Jockeys Fund Ruby Walsh were in attendance and both McCoy and Lee's daughter Amy delivered speeches on the night.

Moloney said: "There was a great crowd, nearly 500 and around 48 tables. A lot of work went into it and it was a huge success. There was €25,000 in the auction on the night and we'll have a full figure in the next day or two. There was a nice chunk of money raised. Graham sent over a video and that was poignant on the night. AP and Graham's daughter both spoke and you couldn't but be touched by the tributes.

Michael Moloney: happy with attendances at last week's meetingCredit: Ray Ryan

"It went better than I could have imagined. The racecourse felt it should do something to support Graham given his association with the track. His family were telling us that Galway racecourse got him into racing and started his passion for it. 

"We had people ringing and looking to book for next year but it was meant to be a one-off. We'll let the dust settle and discuss it. Walking through the enclosure, people regularly stopped me and said what a great night it was."

Attendances at the seven-day festival held their own until Sunday when there was a yellow rain warning, while Moloney noted the numbers generated by course bookmakers and the Tote were particularly strong.

He said: "Attendances were up until Sunday when we had the yellow rain warning so that day was down around 4,500. But it was very positive up until then and we still had nearly 10,000 on Sunday, which was very good considering the forecast. The atmosphere around the enclosure was very good throughout the week. We were up on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, while Thursday and Friday were down a bit so it balanced itself out until we got to Sunday.

"Bookmakers' numbers were strong throughout the week and the Tote did very well. There was huge turnover and the Tote almost hit €500,000 on course on two days."

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