Ballybrit the place to be next week

By JIM CARNEY TWO down, one to go. After the Volvo Ocean Race and the Galway Arts Festival here come the horses, the punters and the partygoers to complete the July social and sporting diary from next Monday, the 30th to Sunday, August 5.[private] Ballybrit, on the eastern edge of the city, is the place to be next week when over 150,000 people, of all ages, descend upon the famous racetrack for seven days of exciting racing for a total prize-fund of €1.6 million, with every race sponsored. The recession is on hold! It was announced last week that Galway is the first racecourse in Ireland and the U.K. to reach 50,000 Facebook fans. Ballybrit's 50,000th Facebook friend, Patricia Kelly from Athenry, has been sent two tickets for a day of her choice at the Summer Festival of Racing. It all starts on Monday at 4.00 o'clock, an hour earlier than last year, and that'll be repeated on Tuesday. Galway Plate Day commences at 3.00 o'clock and Thursday (Ladies Day) at 1.50. Friday is an evening meeting, commencing at 5.10, with racing on Saturday at 2.25 and on Sunday, 2.15. As reported by Herald Sport last week, Tote Ireland, sponsor of Wednesday's big race, commissioned the design and manufacture of a new Galway Plate for the 2012 festival, to be presented to the winning owner. The design (pictured above) is the creative work of a third year industrial design student from Dublin, Matthew Lynch, 'staying true to the origins of the original silver-plated design but with a modern look.' For the €200,000 Galway Plate, Oliver McKiernan's three-time Grade One winner Follow The Plan, winner of the Betfred Bowl at Aintree, has been given the task of carrying top weight of 11st 10lb. The last two winners of the Galway summer festival centrepiece, Blazing Tempo and Finger On the Pulse, have been handed 11st 3lb and 10st 5lb, respectively. Blazing Tempo's trainer Willie Mullins has two other possibles in Blackstairmountain (10st 11lb) and Raptor (10st 2lb). Among the cross-Channel raiders are Evan Williams's Tiger O'Toole (9st 10lb), Venetia Williams's Idarah (9st 7lb) and the Nicky Richards-trained Peachey Moment (9st 7lb). Richest National Hunt race For the €260,000 Guinness Galway Handicap Hurdle â€â€ the richest National Hunt race to be run in Ireland this year â€â€ Tony Mullins, a Ballybrit specialist, has a contingency plan in case Clarach does not make the cut. It's been the long-term objective for the seven-year-old mare but Clarach is not guaranteed a place in the maximum 20-strong field, so the Co. Kilkenny trainer will take the precaution of entering her in the two-mile Amateur Flat Handicap on the Monday evening. Top weight in the big race on Ladies Day (11st 10lb) is set to be carried by The Real Article, beaten favourite last year. That winner of that race, Moon Dice, is given 11st 6lb this year. Local Hero, Lexi's Boy, Unknown Rebel and Idarah are British entries. The Race Committee are again working hard to make the summer festival one to remember. Facilities are being upgraded all the time, and so are public transport services. This year, Iarnród Éireann will have extra trains from Athlone to Galway on Wednesday and Thursday, serving Ballinasloe, Woodlawn, Attymon, Athenry and Galway, while special late services will operate after racing on Wednesday and Thursday with trains to Dublin and Limerick. Members of the Galway hurling team will be among the guests on the first evening of racing, which will also feature a Special Olympics fundraiser. Children and teenagers under 16 accompanied by a parent or guardian will be admitted free of charge to Ballybrit next week. Unaccompanied young people will have to pay the student admission fee for that day.[/private]