THERE is increasing confidence that up to 5,000 spectators will be allowed attend each day of Irish Champions Weekend in a fortnight’s time.

Currently racecourses are only allowed admit 500 members of the public on race days, due to the perceived risk of spreading Covid-19. Public health officials view racemeetings as more high-risk than a stadium sports event, as racegoers tend to constantly mingle and move throughout an extended period, and there is alcohol served.

Horse Racing Ireland is known to have put forward a case to Government for up to 5,000 spectators at Leopardstown and the Curragh on September 11th-12th, with a view to getting a similar concession for the Listowel Festival, which starts a week later.

Industry sources said yesterday that a favourable response was imminent, possibly by Monday if not sooner.

However, the devil will be in the detail as it is understood that neither the Curragh nor Leopardstown can comfortably accommodate 5,000 racegoers for a full day if all buildings remain off-limits.

Leopardstown CEO Tim Husbands said: “We have prepared plans for various scenarios, such as having 1,000, 3,000 or 5.000 spectators. Hopefully we will hear from the Government or HRI by the beginning of next week, but we have to take a responsible approach and a lot will depend on the ability to offer indoor dining.

“We probably could not cater for a crowd of 5,000 people outdoors for an extended period. You have to think of the safety of the racegoer, how you would offer them food and drink, and where everyone would take shelter in the event of very poor weather.

“However, we are confident we can make the day as enjoyable as possible for It would make things a lot easier for us if, in line with the rest of the hospitality sector, we were afforded the opportunity to have indoor dining.”

Even with indoor dining, restaurant spaces at Leopardstown would be limited. Husbands explained: “Because of social distancing requirements, we might only get 300 in the Pavilion and another couple of hundred in our grandstand restaurants.”

Leopardstown are also looking to amend their race times, to maximise television coverage. Throw-in for the All-Ireland Football Final is at 5pm. “We will probably bring our first race forward to 1.10pm, to accommodate RTÉ and ITV,” said Husbands. As usual Doncaster’s St Leger is also taking place that afternoon.

Likely runners in the Irish Champion Stakes include St Mark’s Basilica and Tarnawa. Trainer Charlie Appleby is believed to be aiming Group 2 Superlative Stakes winner Native Trail at the Vincent O’Brien National Stakes at the Curragh on the Sunday.

Register now

Those interested in attending either day of Irish Champions Weekend should register their interest now on both the Leopardstown and Curragh websites. Should tickets become available, those who have registered will be given first option.