Major Galway event cancelled due to Storm Boelo warning
Storm Boelo is already disrupting plans with more weather warnings expected to be announced tomorrow
A major Galway event has been cancelled due to Storm Boelo hitting Ireland on Saturday just hours after Storm Austen leaves.
Galway Races organisers have confirmed that there will be no racing on Saturday due to the upcoming warned Storm - the second named weather event in over 24 hours.
They said: “Unfortunately due to Storm Boelo we have now implemented changes to our Bank Holiday Weekend Race Programme. As a result, no racing will take place on Saturday October 24.
National Hunt racing will remain as scheduled on Sunday; the National Hunt racing from Saturday will now be held on Student Raceday on Monday with Flat Racing transferred from Monday to Tuesday.
Storm Boelo is set to track the northwest and west of Ireland on Saturday bringing strong winds and heavy rain with several warnings expected.
These Storm Boelo warnings are expected to take over from around Friday evening and night onwards and into Saturday day and afternoon.
Michael Moloney CEO of Galway Races said the team were disappointed that Saturday’s racing cannot go ahead but believe rescheduling the fixture “is the most responsible course of action”.
He said: “Over the past two days, we have carried out continuous assessments of the track and closely monitored the weather forecast. Following discussions with Shane Ryder, Clerk of the Course, we jointly agreed that racing could not proceed safely on Saturday due to Storm Boelo and the alerts around it. It was a difficult decision to make, but the safety and welfare of our jockeys, horses, racegoers and staff must always come first.
“As we were due to race over three consecutive days, it was not possible to move Saturday’s fixture directly to Tuesday. To ensure the best possible racing lines it was decided to transfer Monday’s Flat card to Tuesday, allowing Saturday’s fixture to move to Monday instead.
“We would like to thank everyone for their understanding, patience and support as we make these changes especially our industry partners. We now look forward to three great days of racing in Ballybrit as we close out our 2026 racing season. We look forward to welcoming racegoers back to Galway over the coming days.”