The Galway Races are here again and the seven-day betting bonanza kicks off this evening at 5.10. The watering sprinklers were required at the Ballybrit course yesterday to maintain a safe surface for the many runners lining up this evening, but you won’t see too many damp spirits at Galway this week .

This year’s record prize fund that now exceeds €2m has, not surprisingly, grabbed the attention of several of the leading English trainers to add some friendly anglo-celt rivalry to the occasion. However Dermot Weld remains the undisputed king of Galway and Irish eyes will be looking to his Majestic Concorde in the highlight of day one, the GPT Galway (QR) Handicap to get the festival off to a flyer for the punters.

Detailed coverage and tips of todays racing can be found here courtesy of the Irish Independent while RTE provide live coverage of the festival at this link.

For anyone looking to have a flutter there is some very useful tips privided by racing expert Donn McClean at his blog. For whats it worth my money will be on Arc Bleu in the 7.00 race  hoping Tony Martin can get one over the bookies again.

Best of luck and enjoy!