By John McIntyre

OVER 500 people will attend a big fund-raising ball in the Galmont Hotel on the Saturday night of Galway Race Week, but every one of those guests would prefer if the event didn’t have to take place.

Unfortunately, Galway jockey Graham Lee suffered life-changing injuries in a fall coming out of the stalls at Newcastle last November and the Summer Festival Ball is in response to the financial burden now placed on his family.

The night will be hosted by Galway’s own Gráinne Seoige and RTE betting pundit Brian Gleeson, and among those in attendance will be multiple champions jockeys Tony McCoy and Ruby Walsh who are heavily involved in the Injured Jockeys’ Fund, both in Ireland and the UK.

Members of the Lee family, including Graham’s mum Mary, his son Robbie and daughter Amy, will also be present on what will be an emotional night for the Lee clan who are originally from Mervue in the city.

Graham Lee had done it all as a jockey; notably achieving the rare distinction of winning some of the most prestigious races over both jumps and on the flat. He took the Cheltenham Festival by storm in 2005 with a series of Grade One triumphs on Arcalis, No Refuge and Inglis Drever. The previous April he had steered Amberleigh House to an improbable success in the Aintree Grand National.

Graham would go on to enjoy further Cheltenham Festival glory on L’Antartique (2007) and Divers (2011) – both for the Ferdy Murphy stable – and during an outstanding career also landed the Grade One Betway Bowl and Scottish Grand National on the front-running Grey Abbey. Further big-race glory was achieved on the likes of Aces Four and Kalahari King.

In July of 2010, he returned to his local track at Ballybrit to take the Guinness Galway Hurdle on Overturn. Three years previously, Graham had come up trumps on Another Promise in the Ryanair Novices Chase at the Punchestown Festival and he joined an elite band of jockeys to ride over 1,000 winners over jumps.

Pictured: Jockey Graham Lee with Overturn after winning the Guinness Galway Hurdle at the 2010 Summer Festival.