The fourth annual McHale Race Day took place at Ballinrobe Racecourse on Tuesday, May 30^th. Like previous years, the race meeting saw a big attendance by racegoers from near and far on what was a glorious summers evening.

The McHale Race Day is part of a two day meeting at Ballinrobe Racecourse which attracts big names in the racing industry such as jockey’s Ruby Walsh, Davy Russell, Paul Townend and Bryan Cooper while trainers Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliot and Aidan & Joseph O’Brien were in attendance to keep an eye on proceedings.

The busy evening meeting saw seven races take place with two main feature races, the McHale Coranna Handicap Hurdle and the McHale Mayo National, worth €30,000 and €40,000 respectively in prize money. The McHale Coranna Handicap Hurdle was won by Swamp Fox, trained by Joseph Murphy and ridden by Barry Browne.

Kilcarry Bridge with Donagh Meyler on board took the honours of the McHale Mayo National for trainer John Patrick Ryan. This horse has great success in Ballinrobe Racecourse and in particular on McHale Race Day having won the McHale Coranna Handicap Hurdle in 2014.

John Flannelly, Manager of Ballinrobe Racecourse, commented:

“Local sponsorship is key to our success here at Ballinrobe, we are delighted to welcome McHale back for their fourth year and very much appreciate their continued support.  We got off to a great start this evening and all went well. The prize money for the Mayo National is up on last year so that has added to the high standard of racing this evening.”

Padraic McHale, Managing Director of McHale said;

“We are delighted to be sponsoring Ballinrobe Races for the fourth year in row. As neighbours and friends our relationship has grown down through the years so we are glad to help out and be involved in the races this evening. McHale Race Day has proved to be an enjoyable evening for everyone in attendance and it looks like they all enjoyed themselves again this year.”