THIS weekend 20 years ago Connolly’s Red Mills sponsored every race on the card at Gowran Park. While the card now contains two Grade 2 races, and the meeting is very much a Cheltenham trials event, two decades ago only the hurdle race got the winner and placed horses blacktype, and then it was Grade 3. Much has changed in the meanwhile.

Even back then attracting big fields was a challenge and the two main races on the card each had just four runners. It was a case of quality over quantity then as now.