This year's Galway Racing Festival is now underway and Dermot Weld has already claimed his first winner of the week.

Weld, who has been named as the leading trainer in Ballybrit an incredible 26 times, was back in the winners enclosure after the very first race this evening.

Ruby Walsh was on-board 10-to-9 on favourite 'Diplomat' as they claimed the Novice Hurdle.

Since then, the Burgess Memorial Handicap Hurdle was won by the Colm Murphy trained "Aladdins Cave", which was sent-off the 9-to-2 favourite.

The feature on today's card is the Connacht Hotel Handicap, which goes to post at 6.45pm.

©INPHO/James Crombie