IT has been a Galway Festival like no other this week. No bookmakers, no fashion, no roar, no amusements, no tents. Take the crowd out of Galway and you take the soul out of the biggest racing festival in Ireland.

But the show must and has gone on, and inside the white rails not much has changed – the action is as competitive as ever, despite prize money taking a hit.

The schedule has changed to no mixed cards which therefore lessens the number of jockeys coming on each day, while the timing of the meetings should hopefully allow for good viewing figures on RTÉ.

Thursday's Guinness Galway Hurdle is still worth €200,000 and last year’s winner Tudor City is back to defend his title and attempts to give trainer Tony Martin a remarkable fourth win in seven years.

Speaking on the Champ.ie podcast this week, Martin was hopeful, saying: “It’s been a very lucky race for us and it would be great to keep it that way.

“He’s in great form and he’s really well. He was going to run a lovely race on the flat at Cork but he got interfered with, he was the meat in the sandwich between two horses, but he still ran a very nice race despite that.

“Look it’s a big ask for him to win it twice but we know he likes Galway and we’re hopeful of another big run.”

The competition in the race will be fierce, not least from both Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott, whose best chances look to be Aramon and Felix Desjy respectively, both Grade 1-winning novice hurdlers. The Charles Byrnes-trained Wonder Laish is another worth noting after a lovely prep run behind Aramon at Tipperary earlier this month.

On Friday, Guinness again sponsors the big handicap hurdle and it could be worth siding with Dalton Highway who finished 13th here in the feature race on Monday. The slow pace of that two-mile flat contest probably didn’t suit Dermot Weld’s gelding but back over hurdles he has a nice handicap mark and this two-mile-seven-furlong trip could well suit him.

Princess Zoe won the race Dalton Highway ran in on Monday and she could complete a unique feature race double if allowed to take her chance in the Galway Shopping Centre Handicap on Saturday. Tony Mullins’ mare was impressive on Monday and will face just a 7lb penalty, which probably underestimates her.