IMAGINE a year, in the not too distant future, when the Limerick four-day Christmas meeting features a Grade 1 or Grade A race on each day? Believe it or not, it might become a reality given the way that the meeting is being supported, and based on the recent outcomes of the current feature races.

The main race each day this year will be shown on RTE television, while ITV racing will show the third day’s highlight, the Grade B Tim Duggan Memorial Chase. This is the 16th running of the race which is sponsored by the next generation’s Tim Duggan and his insurance company.

Who can forget the build-up last year to the racecourse’s only Grade 1 presently, the Grade 1 Matchbook Betting Exchange Faugheen Novice Chase? It was won by the horse whose name is now in the race title, and he slammed Samcro on the day by 10 lengths, going on to win another Grade 1 at the Dublin Racing Festival and finishing a length behind Samcro at Cheltenham.

Teetering on the cusp of being good enough to be rated a Grade 1, the Lyons of Limerick Jaguar Land Rover Novice Hurdle on the second day is a race that actually commemorates a great horse trained in Limerick, Dorans Pride. Limerick general manager Patrick O’Callaghan is hoping that many of the leading entries turn up, and perhaps boost the chances of an upgrade.

Mentioned earlier, the race honouring Limerick racecourse stalwart Tim Duggan, which is run on fresh ground, moved from the second to the third day to give trainers an extra option and avoid directly clashing with Leopardstown’s Paddy Power day.

This leads on to the final day when the newly promoted Grade 2 Sporting Limerick Hurdle will take centre stage. This race was won two years ago by the subsequent Champion Hurdle winner Espoir D’Allen, and O’Callaghan is hoping that when it has served its minimum three-year period as a Grade 2 it will be ripe for further escalation.

With a mainly dry forecast in the days leading up to this year’s meeting, Patrick O’Callaghan is hopeful that conditions will be ideal for runners. While the uncertain future for racecourses remains, he says: “The industry needs racecourses to keep going.. We have to play the ball that is in front of us, and hope that 2021 will see an improvement”.

He is also hopeful that the well-presented coverage of racing by the national broadcaster will draw big audiences over the Christmas period, and that some of this new cohort of viewers will try a day at the races when it is possible to do so. Meanwhile, the countdown is on.

Join the experts on Monday

FOR a paltry sum you can become a member of ‘The Club’. Not only that, but it will get you up close with Davy Russell, Rachael Blackmore and Patrick Mullins on Monday, December 21st at 7pm.

The Club is an initiative of Galway Races and it offers fun, exclusive experiences and benefits, inside information and the company of other keen racegoers.

The Club benefits include priority access to race day tickets, the beautiful Galway Races wall calendar, access to VIP experiences organised by the team in Galway Racecourse such as trips to trainer’s yards, walking the course in Ballybrit, the ‘Weights’ release event, exclusive interviews, behind the scenes race day access and more.

Joining is easy by going to www.galwayraces.com/theclub, and if you do so before Monday night you too can join in and view the audience with three of Irish National Hunt racing’s biggest stars.