A WET morning nationwide definitely hit Sunday’s attendance figure at the Curragh but conditions immediately before and during racing were mainly dry and sunny.

Those who did go racing were greeted at the main entrance by a 12-member orchestra in full flow while, just beyond the turnstiles, a gospel choir was belting out By The Rivers Of Babylon.

Moyglare Stud may have had to move their Group 1 race to fit in with Champions Weekend but the stud has really got behind the concept and contributed hugely to the atmosphere on Sunday.

Racegoers could walk through an interactive Moyglare hall of fame located slap bang inside the main entrance and there were 7,000 Lindt chocolate bars branded in Moyglare colours given away. We helped ourselves to three but passed them on to, eh, underprivileged children somewhere.

KidZone

The Moyglare KidZone was a theme park all of its own. Apprentices had volunteered to man the two racehorse simulators and there was a queue all day for both of them. Colouring, caricatures, face painting, puzzles and pirates – the tented palace was hopping. Take a bow Fiona Craig and all associated with the Haefner family’s operation.

Behind the champagne bar the Food Village was also well populated. This facility was a bit of a washout on Derby day when the rains came between races, so it was great to see a temporary Perspex roof erected over the seated area allowing racegoers to pretend it was a lovely autumnal day.

Further down the track there was also plenty of non-racing entertainment for young and old.

The man in charge of the go-karts and bouncy castles was getting no rest, though the Curragh House Band, playing to nobody in particular in front of the West End stand, could probably have slacked off to the bar for an hour and nobody would have noticed.

National Hunt

Back at the parade ring some National Hunt greats were on show. Hardy Eustace was there and Hurricane Fly was really on his toes and ready to race – has nobody told him yet? Maybe he saw Paul Townend jocked up to ride Wicklow Brave in the St Leger and thought it was a jumps card.

There was so much going on that it cannot be easy to synchronise the public address announcements with the ancillary events in the parade ring and ‘Fashion Quarter’. As at Leopardstown the previous day Longines are backing the best dressed competitions for both sexes.

One often feels sorry for those ‘men’ who come to the races in a dickie-bow, waistcoat and kerchief with the express intention of winning a prize, and so it is refreshing to see this particular prize – worth €3,000 – go to someone who probably didn’t even know there was a competition taking place. The winner was Matt Prior, a bloodstock executive with Tattersalls in Newmarket and, to be fair to him, he looked suitably mortified to be on the stage.

The ladies’ heat was the usual semi-professional affair. The winner, Suzanne McGarry, has won at the Curragh more times than Vinnie Roe and was due to carry a 6lb penalty at Listowel yesterday.

In the press room journalists only narrowly held a majority over bookmakers’ representatives – and sometimes it’s hard to know which is which.

Everyone was in good form though, thanks to a massive over-supply of cream cakes, coffee and fizzy drinks, and the big chat was about events at Longchamp rather than the Curragh. Pat and Liam Healy were fielding plenty of enquires about Listowel’s prospects of getting through the week and they dropped heavy hints that Monday’s card was in serious doubt.

There were plenty of guffaws after the Moyglare when Minding eased past stable companion Ballydoyle but favourite backers were on good terms again when Order Of St George blitzed the field in the Irish St Leger. Most racegoers were oblivious to the fact that Brown Panther has been put down – should it have been announced?

Upstairs Tattersalls Ireland were hosting a huge lunch for all the connections involved in the 30-runner Super Auction Sale Stakes. British trainer David Evans was in top form as usual though his lunch was more liquid than solid. Perplexed by the fact that Brendan Duke was not having a drink, David teased him that it must have something to do with Brendan training horses for Jim Bolger.

No alcohol

Sean McCormack from Naas won “a Jaguar experience along the Wild Atlantic Way” and good fortune also smiled on Qatar Racing, owners of the first and second in the sales race. Who could begrudge them a winner after their Doncaster St Leger demotion the day before? Their luck doesn’t hold, however, as the same owner’s Fog War was beaten by a short-head in the last.

And so Irish Champions Weekend 2015 comes to a close. The overall verdict? Anytime you can get a crowd to watch flat racing in Ireland is an achievement – even if you are giving out free tickets. Those who went last weekend probably enjoyed themselves and are likely to go again sometime.

They may not bring new people with them or become evangelists for the sport but neither would they put somebody off going racing. That’s not a bad result.

Having got off to a flier last year, the event has kept up its momentum.

Yes, there is always room for improvement with facilities and sideshows but the racing itself was top-class.

It’s called Champions Weekend and we probably saw quite a few champions over the two days - Golden Horn, Legatissimo, Order Of St George and maybe Air Force Blue will be divisional leaders at the end of the season. Sole Power and Minding won’t be far off the top either.

That’s probably the most important barometer to gauge the success of the weekend.