To win just once ...

By Siobhan Holliman THERE might be better odds of you winning Best Dressed at the Galway Races than the EuroMillions jackpot, but being the best-dressed lady certainly takes a lot more effort than buying a ticket. Rain or shine, Ladies Day at Ballybrit continues to be one of the busiest days of the seven-day festival and in 2006 it set a new national record for attendance at a modern-day Irish race meeting when 48,162 people packed the enclosures. While the numbers of feathers and fascinators maneuvering through the turnstiles have fallen over the past five years, there are still thousands of high-heeled fashionistas who hover around the Anthony Ryan tent on the day, eager to impress enough to gain entry or to catch a glimpse of the chosen few who wear the coveted finalist wristband. Ladies Day in Galway hosts the pinnacle of Best Dressed competitions anywhere in the country and the winner must be prepared to be admired, congratulated, interrogated and even bitched about from the minute her name is announced. Smiles are as big as the hats when the judges begin to meander through the grounds and despite many women searching for an entry form, this is one competition you simply can't enter. The beaming women inside the Anthony Ryan tent, who will undergo further scrutiny, have been tapped on the shoulder by a judge and the daper security men standing guard at the white picket fence ensure anyone else who approaches is politely declined entry. There have been winners we've loved and judges we've hated, days when it poured down and temperatures that left ladies sweltering. It's an excuse for every woman, regardless of age, to dress up and you'll certainly never be overdressed on a Thursday at Ballybrit (ballgowns are the exception). Ladies Day is a stamina-sapping experience. It's not a day to try out skyscraper stillettos or to pop along with a relaxing day's racing in mind. It takes determination and considerable elbow power to make your way through the haze of fake tan and half the contents of a perfume counter. Get ready to be assessed as if you were on a leash at Crufts and you'll come across plenty of men spilling out of the bar tents who have no problem taking advantage of the packed crowds for a quick squeeze of whatever body part they can reach. Ladies Day in Galway is something to be admired and the thousands who make such an effort to dazzle the countless photographers are to be congratulated for making it the best in the country. But when the crowds fade and the racecards are left in the drawer, what memories does the winner take with her? 'It was one of the best days of my life,' recalls schoolteacher Mary Therese McDonnell, who stood on the winner's podium in 2009. Although she lives in Dublin, she comes from a big family in Kilmovee, Co Mayo and her win is still a talking point among family and friends. Among the thousands of people watching Mary Therese take the Best Dressed title was her boyfriend and her win stole his heart - a few days later he proposed and they were married the following year. Mary Therese had gone to Ladies Day a few times and she admits that in 2009 was probably her least prepared. 'It just all seemed to come together. I was enjoying a glass of wine with my friends when one of the judges approached me,' says Mary Therese, who nearly always wears the diamond necklace she won as part of her prize. She is hoping to make a return visit to Ballybrit next year, as last year she was enjoying her honeymoon and this year she is pregnant. 'There's no place like it. The prize was unbelieveable,' she said. The day holds much significance for her as it was the day her now husband decided to ask her to marry him. The couple also put the Anthony Ryan's voucher to use while decorating their new home. 'You really never know what a day can bring,' adds Mary Therese. Winning Ladies Day was also an unforgettable experience for the winner in 2010, Ann Marie O'Leary from Kerry, who won on her 40th birthday. She and her friends, including milliner Carol Kennelly, who won in 2008, had arrived at the course early and Ann Marie jokes she was in search of a burger when she was tapped on the shoulder and given a wristband. 'I didn't really realise what was going on but all the girls started screaming,' she laughs. It was a particularly poignant achievement for Ann Marie who almost hadn't attended because her mother was very ill. 'I was completely blown away and I remember saying â€ËœRing my mom'. I was her only daughter and I really was so proud.' Attending race meetings has become a fun hobby for Ann Marie and her friends. 'We're totally into it now. We're always planning what to wear. We love fashion and find it a great way to express our creativity.' But Ann Marie, who remembers that she got dressed that day in a toilet cubicle as her hotel room wasn't ready, says no matter where her new-found hobby takes them, there is no place like Ballybrit. 'Galway is definitely tops. It's a real phenonmenon. I'm really, really proud to have won,' says Ann Marie, who also got a great buzz from looking at the photos in the newspapers the following day. So what's the winning formula? Ann Marie doesn't have the answer but offers some advice. 'Always be comfortable and always let your personality come through.'