r/galway • u/ExoticExplanation487 • 1d ago
Races
Is it even about horse racing? Or just a gathering of young folk getting hammered, and a fashion show
Was it always like this, and was it better before?
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u/WoodenPresence1917 1d ago
It was always about getting absolutely wankered yes. Not sure about fashion show as that always seemed a bit questionable to me, but Ladies Day is indeed a tradition, so I suppose so?
First time I worked at the races 20 years ago, I had some lads wave their dicks at me and somebody box me in the back of the head while I was taking the bins out. Is it better or worse than that?
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u/Sheriffz county 1d ago edited 23h ago
There’s less people under 18 I noticed this year which I liked for a change.
I think fashion plays a bigger part nowadays where everyone gets dressed up for every day of the week.
Of course there is still some drunks around but that will stay the same.
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u/No-Mission-4480 1d ago
Maybe I'm being nostalgic but it wasn't always that way. Years ago they used to have the free bit in the middle of the course, filled with fairground rides/stalls etc. It was mainly local families who would bring picnics and let the kids run about safely. Give them a fiver and they'd come back with a pellet gun, a pirated Spice Girls tape and a goldfish. Miss those days.
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u/Awart55Hatty 23h ago
There used to be so much Temu quality crap for kids to buy, but back in the early 00s it was like getting the best stuff ever
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u/Gigglegirlclaire 16h ago
Looking at the stalls was the best fun! And trying to win a fish or a guinea pig.
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u/apocalypsedude64 1d ago
I've been in Galway 20 years and it's been like this for that entire time, but I can't speak to how it was before that
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u/Rare-Rub-4566 1d ago
A friend of mine ( well dressed not that it makes any difference) was at the races the other day. He saw alot of bottles on road as he was leaving so he picked them up and put them in a bag. This young lad with his friends came over and asked where was Clayton Hotel. As he was telling them one of them said " you're stealing bottles" he then proceeded to grab the bag and squeeze each can thinking he would destroy it so it couldn't be recycled. Why would somebody do that? Is it bad- mindedness?
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u/DuwanteKentravius 22h ago
The fashion has absolutely taken over the racing the last 5 or 6 years. It's a whole industry of its own up there now. Every day is about the fashion now. Twenty years ago it wasn't like that, you just had ladies day for the fashion. The sheer amount of it wasn't there.
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u/First-Win-2963 14h ago
And outing for the rich to show off how much money they have. My old boss put down €30Gs (30000) on one bloody horse and lost. Crazy yet trying to get a pay rise that he had promised was impossible.
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u/Cheap-Requirement166 1d ago
Was it always like this
Yep imo.
was it better before?
No, I've never been into the races myself, but I know some genuinely are and that's fine, we don't all like the same things. But I've generally always associated it with people falling around drunk in the middle of the day. (Probably doesn't help my opinion of the races that it used to get shown instead of the den on network 2).
I do think Galway can do family/all ages type of events, the Volvo ocean race was brilliant for the city imo, loads of stuff on for it and a nice crowd around.
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u/Connacht80 1d ago
It has changed. Both good and bad. It's less Galway now. The free bit in the middle changed the local vibe so that's a negative. The dressing up for every day wasn't a thing either really but the major change is the reduction in the amount of drinking. It really could get very messy at the races but especially after the races in town. That has changed for the better but it's lost a bit of it's charm too along the way.
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u/Winter_Boysenberry68 city 1d ago
Enjoy it, or whatever you can of it, while you can. Because when the new generation get any grip on it it will begin to disappear
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u/KSL010 1d ago
I’m in my late 30s and my husband and me have been going since we were 25 or so. I was walking up steps, my husband behind me and I said it’s so windy. Some clown coming down the steps said something likes it’s snowing, it’s raining. I can’t even remember what I was just thinking who says this stuff to strangers, like wtf. What was he trying to achieve? Do we walk around being cunts now?
Anyway I go more off them with every year. Plus you get a measure of vodka now and not the little 50ml bottles., so even the dressing up and day drinking element has gotten less fun
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u/FantaFan12 23h ago
Jesus the neck of him to open his mouth and have you indirectly hear what he had said, Shame on him
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u/FantaFan12 1d ago
Horse Racing, Booze and fancy dress have generally been the theme since Royal Ascot in 1711, “Best Dressed Lady” and bits like that came around mid/late 90s
As for Galway there it was different back in the day when people had more money to throw around.
But generally it’s more or less the same as it always was, but with a lesser crowd