Michael D drops in on Galway Races with one eye on another race
President Michael D Higgins made his annual trip to Ballybrit for the Galway Plate and he had more than one race on his mind.
Of course, the President is an honorary Galway man, He’s among friends west of the Shannon.
He has always been a regular visitor to Ballybrit and is a big racing fan but this year he has a race of another kind on his mind.
That is the one that will decide whether or not he gets to reside in the lovely big house in the Phoenix Park for another seven years.
Irony of ironies, one of his potential other main rivals is another man with a few fans in Galway — Éamon Ó Cuív.
There was no sign of a showdown at Ballybrit, however, as Mr Ó Cuív wasn’t in attendance.
The President, as always, was in Galway to present the Galway Plate to the winner, but us poor media folks struggled to get a word out of him.
However, in the parade ring it was clear he had his eye on more than one race.
He said with a smile: “Oh, I always enter races in a very fit condition.”
One horse in very fit condition was Clarcam who took the big race of the week the Galway Plate at 33/1.
The favourites were well beaten in the race in what was a huge win for jockey Mark Enright and trainer Gordon Elliot.
Another man spotted racing and who sat in a powerful office for a few years was none other than former taoiseach Brian Cowen.
One thing is for sure, he has absolutely no interest in ever running for the Áras.
“Absolutely not. We are talking in the realms of way beyond 66/1 and carrying 12st 7lb,” he said.
The former Fianna Fáil leader had an early winner in the races but had no insight into who would win the race for the presidency.
“Obviously, he is the incumbent and he is the favourite. He’s in the gate and he’s going again. There’s going to be a race.
"I don’t think it reflects on the dignity of the office whether it’s contested or not as long as the person that’s there is of sufficient stature to fill the job and I think that’s always been the case down the years, to be honest, whether there have been elections or not,” he said.
The President might still be the favourite to hang onto the gig in the Áras, but, according to Paddy Power, he had drifted significantly in the betting to serve a second term.
Up until now, he had been a nailed-on certainty to retain his role.
It seems Dragon’s Den star Gavin Duffy, who announced he would throw his hat into the ring earlier this week has shaken things up.
President Higgins was a 1/8 odds-on shot, and although still top of the pops in the betting, he now sits at a decidedly less favourable price of 1/5 according to the bookie.
“We haven’t taken a single bet on President Michael D Higgins since Gavin Duffy’s announcement," said a Paddy Power spokesperson.
He entered the betting at 8/1 and the early money is on the Dragon to breathe some fire down the throats of his rivals.”
We can forget about the racing tomorrow. It plays second fiddle to fashion.
The real madness in Galway is for Ladies Day. It will be the most competitive day of the week.
