MANY changes have taken place at Leopardstown Racecourse over the course of the last four decades. However, throughout that period, the one constant has been Willie Gibbons.

Now on a part-time contract and with eight months left in that role, Gibbons recently celebrated 40 years as part of the workforce at the Foxrock track.

One of five children, Gibbons essentially grew up on the racecourse. In those days, a number of families lived on site.

“There was a family close to the front gate, one at the Foxrock Village entrance and another at the rear of the enclosure,” he says. “Of course, they are gone now, even the houses themselves have all but disappeared. It was essentially a gated community where the entire complex was locked from 10 or 11 at night.”

While he has early memories of his father working on the racecourse, Willie was aged about 12 or 13 when he first started helping out.

With the Dublin Racing Festival and Champions Weekend non-existent in those days, the Christmas Festival was the highlight of the racing calendar. Initially run over two days, it then became three and latterly four. Growing up, Willie and his siblings all helped out, doing whatever they could for their father.

Circumstances

While Gibbons never bore any aspirations to take over from his father, circumstances dictated otherwise. After finishing his Intermediate Certificate, he went on to complete an apprenticeship as an electrician, before taking up a role with the ESB.

For six years, he worked away in that job, while his father neared the end of his tenure at Leopardstown. A successor had been identified for the racecourse role but, for one reason or another, that just didn’t work out. As a result of a chance encounter, Willie was offered the opportunity to step into the role once his father eventually retired.

He says: “I took on a role as my father’s assistant while he was winding down and after he went on a three-day week, I was given more responsibility.”

Max Fleming was clerk of the course when Willie began in 1986 and Joe Collins took over the following year. Some time afterwards, Collins began approaching Gibbons junior if there was an issue, instead of going to his father. So, for Willie, it was more a case of gradually taking over as track foreman.

Irish Champions Weekend was introduced in 2014, while the Dublin Racing Festival came four years later. Together with the Christmas Festival, these now form the three biggest meetings of the racing calendar at Leopardstown.

For Gibbons, Christmas continues to be the most demanding meeting. “We operate as a flat racing track for much of the year, so we need to completely turn it around for the Christmas Festival. We start working on the course immediately after the Champion Stakes meeting in September; essentially undertaking a total rebuild.”

Best ground

With the fences being portable units, it is possible to move them around in order to get the best ground and racing lines. Leopardstown covers such a large area they can race on both an inner or an outer line, allowing ground staff the option to save ground if and when it is necessary. After the four days at Christmas, the Dublin Racing Festival is next, before Gibbons and his team have to dismantle everything and prepare for the flat season. With the last of eight Thursday night summer fixtures upon us, Gibbons remembers a time when racing took place regularly at Leopardstown on bank holiday Mondays.

“During the 80s, we raced on most bank holidays - June, August, the October weekend. It used to consist of mixed cards with both National Hunt and flat racing.

“That was gradually phased out. People tended to leave the city on long weekends, so we didn’t get the crowds.”

Taking inspiration from the popular Monday night summer meetings at Windsor, the Thursday night concept was introduced. Those have proved very successful and continue to draw crowds each week.

Smooth transition

Having retired as track foreman in March 2024, Gibbons returned on a 12-month part-time contract in order to ensure the smooth transition of acting track foreman John McEnaney and his assistant, Graham Woods, into their new roles.

That contract was subsequently renewed to bring Willie right up to March of next year. As he put it: “One more Champions Weekend, Christmas Festival and Dublin Racing Festival.”

He feels that the timing of the DRF, which is now a month after Christmas, gives much greater scope. “We used to have the old Ladbroke Hurdle in January and we scarcely had time to work on the track after Christmas. Now, with the extra time, it allows us that bit of breathing space. Also, the gap between the DRF and final National Hunt meeting on the eve of Cheltenham is perfect in terms of its timing.”

Changes

Asked about the greatest changes he has seen outside of the fixture list, Gibbons is very clear: “The new watering system at Leopardstown has been a god-send. Back in the late 70s, we were one of the first tracks in the country to introduce the old tow-line system. While that was advanced for its time, our upgraded system has been very effective, particularly this summer with the heatwave we have experienced.”

He also points to the introduction of the plastic running rails, which replaced the old French-style aluminium ones. He says that while it used to take four or five days to put up and take down the old ones, the newer plastic rails can easily be moved between race days to save ground.

The advent of the M50 motorway, which divided lands and saw the loss of the six-furlong straight track in 2004/’05 was another significant change during Gibbons’ time as track foreman. That also coincided with a total revamp and upgrade of the stable yard to provide better facilities for both horses and stable staff.

Memories

On the racecourse itself, a standout memory for Gibbons was the win of Best Mate at Leopardstown in December 2003.

“In those days, you didn’t really get that many Gold Cup winners running at Leopardstown. For Best Mate to come over, run in and win the Ericsson Chase was special. The track was in excellent condition on that particular afternoon, as were the fences.”

He also recalls the epic duel between Galileo and Fantastic Light in the 2001 Irish Champion Stakes as being a highlight. However, Gibbons adds that if he had to single out one particular achievement over the last 40 years, it was managing to run the 2010 Christmas Festival in spite of the weather.

He recalled: “We lost the first two days because of the snow.

“However, we raced on the 28th, 29th and 30th of December. With three eight-race cards each afternoon, we succeeded in saving 24 of 28 races. It took a massive effort from everyone involved to clear the snow from the parade ring, grandstand and track itself.”

Having enjoyed the last two years in his support role at Leopardstown, Willie admits he has had little time to think about the future. With still eight months to go and another Champions Weekend, Christmas Festival and DRF to look forward to, that’s not something he needs to consider just yet.