Leo Powell

THE 2018 fixture list was published on Monday and the total number of meetings has been increased by eight to 363, the highest number ever to be run in Ireland. The racecourses allocated an additional fixture in 2018 are Ballinrobe, Bellewstown, Cork, Dundalk, Galway, Killarney, Naas, Navan and Punchestown. These new fixtures have been allocated on a temporary basis and will be reviewed annually.

Four of the managers of the courses given an extra day reacted this week to the news.

Micheál Lucey in Killarney was waxing lyrical. He told me: “Howard C. Cutler stated that ‘there is no getting around these essential ingredients: determination, effort and time’. Therefore, we at Killarney Racecourse are delighted and really happy to have been awarded an extra day’s racing during our July Racing Festival in 2018. This moves us from a 4-day event to a 5-day affair, Sunday to Thursday, and means that there are more days for our domestic and international patrons to enjoy and savour Ireland’s most scenic racecourse, enjoy the vibrant town of Killarney and experience the hospitality of Kerry.

“From a commercial point of view we hope the more day in July will bring extra business to the racecourse and to the wider community whose support we depend on. An additional days racing will lead to additional people coming through the admission gates, which of course creates additional revenues and in turn this allows us to invest and upgrade our facilities, and to improve our services to owners, trainers and customers that choose to come racing at Killarney. Moreover, the extra day’s racing in July 2018 will provide an extra day’s employment for our personnel, and this of course is to be welcomed.

“A team of energetic and hardworking people have been involved in trying to attain the extra day’s racing for Killarney Racecourse for some time. Whilst our former chairman John Buckley was for a long time encouraging Horse Racing Ireland to allocate Killarney an extra day, special thanks must also go to Brian Kavanagh and Jason Morris of HRI and Val O’Connell, clerk of the course whose support, guidance and direction has helped us realise the ambition of growing our July festival to a five-day extravaganza.”

Galway’s general manager Michael Moloney welcomed their extra day. “We have been applying for an additional fixture for the last few years as we feel the track at Galway is in great condition at present and certainly capable of holding an extra day. So we are delighted to be adding a third day to our October Festival. We work closely with the city and feel that this extended festival will be of great benefit to what is already a big weekend in Galway, which will hopefully make this a success both on and off the track.”

John Flannelly was delighted with the news, yet another additional day of racing in the west. “Securing an extra fixture for 2018 is very significant for Ballinrobe. Major developments in facilities and on the race track have taken place and this extra fixture will help to progress the racecourse even further.”

In Co Meath, Kevin Coleman was no less pleased. “I would like to say how delighted I am that Bellewstown has secured an additional day to our July Festival. It is a tribute to the dedication and vision of so many who have supported this unique venue down through the years.”