Gowran Park must pass Saturday inspection

TODAY’S Gowran Park meeting is subject to a 7.30am precautionary inspection due to forecast heavy rain overnight. The ground was heavy on Friday.

The Gowran feature race is the €100,000 Toals Leinster National Handicap Chase, moved from Naas earlier this week. Although the chase course at Naas is out of action, tomorrow’s meeting has seven races as it took two hurdle races from Navan’s cancelled meeting on Thursday.

Thawing conditions allowed racing to resume in Ireland at Thurles on Thursday after 11 blank days.

Heavy snow in most parts of the country late last week put paid to all fixtures and point-to-points, and even distribution of The Irish Field was postponed by 24 hours due to road conditions.

Leopardstown went ahead on Friday, as did Dundalk in the evening. The all-weather track races again on Monday and there is no Irish racing after that until Dundalk on Friday night.

Next Saturday, St Patrick’s Day, sees racing at Down Royal and Wexford. Limerick races on Sunday week, March 18th, along with Navan where the cancelled Grade 3 Flyingbolt Novice Chase will be added to the card.