WITH the news this week that the Tramore Festival in August and Listowel and Irish Champions Weekend in September are to be held behind closed doors, I caught up with the Association of Irish Racecourses’ CEO Paddy Walsh to find out how racecourses in general are faring at this time.

“We have now been back racing, albeit behind closed doors, for nearly seven weeks. In that time, 18 racecourses have held 64 fixtures between them. All have gone off successfully and adherence to the protocols has ensured that there were no instances of the Covid-19 virus being attributed to the holding of those fixtures,” Paddy was happy to report.