Galway Bay fm newsroom - There was a slight increase in the number of people who attended the fifth day of the Galway Races at Ballybrit yesterday.
However, the bookmakers and tote takings were once again down compared to the figures for last year.
Just over 30 thousand people passed through the turnstiles at Ballybrit yesterday - an increase of over 700 people compared to the figures for 2017.
However, while the bookmakers were once again down - the drop recorded yesterday was less severe than it has been in recent days.
They took in €1.2m over the course of the day - a drop of €104 thousand on the takings recorded last year.
Meanwhile, tote figures were also down - from €959 thousand in 2017, to €896 thousand yesterday - a drop of €63 thousand.
Overall, while betting figures are significantly down across the week, attendance figures are broadly in line with last year's festival - with 109 thousand people passing through Ballybrit so far this week.
The first of the 7 races scheduled for today goes to post at 2 this afternoon.
