Ballybrit Racecourse

Ballybrit Race Track, also known as Galway Racecourse, is a horse

race course in County Galway, Ireland. It is located in the townland of Ballybrit, in the environs of Castlegar, just north of the N6 Bóthar na dTreabh, c.6 km northeast of Galway

city.

The track has two stands, the Main Stand and Millennium Stand.

The seven-day Galway Races Festival is held here every August.

Other meetings are held here in September (2 days), early October (1 day) and over the last weekend in October (3 days).

Course information

Ballybrit is a right-handed course of about one mile and three furlongs, with a steep decline into the dip where the last two fences are situated. There is a sharp incline to the finish line.

History

The first meeting was held in 1869.^[1]^[2]

As part of his

visit to Ireland in 1979, Pope John Paul II celebrated mass at the racecourse for two hundred and eighty thousand people.^[2] The then Mayor of Galway, Michéal Ó hUiginn

, conferred the Freedom of Galway upon the Pontiff.

In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland, the racecourse was used as a mass vaccination centre.^[3]

Notable races

Month	DOW	Race Name	Type	Grade	Distance	Age/Sex
July/Aug	Wednesday	Galway Plate	Chase	Handicap	2m 6f	4yo +
July/Aug	Thursday	Galway Hurdle	Hurdle	Handicap	2m	4yo +
October	Sunday	Ballybrit Novice Chase	Chase	Grade 3	2m 1f	4yo +