ON Wednesday I caught up with Eddie Scally, the manager of Gowran Park. I wondered what life was like at one of Ireland’s 26 racecourses in this time of uncertainty. Like most businesses, Gowran is suffering during the coronavirus pandemic, as not only is there no racing but the golf course is also closed.

“We should be racing today [Wednesday] here at Gowran Park on what would have been our IT Carlow Students Day, and what glorious weather the students would have had. Since the announcement was made to close down all non-essential business we have found it very tough. For us we lost both our day-to-day golf business and also our racing business. In normal circumstances 60 plus staff would be working here today, instead we have four,” he told me.

While many of the staff working on a raceday may be part-time, the effect of not working has a strong negative effect on the local economy. Many would live near the course and their earnings would be spent in the vicinity. The ripple effect goes on and on.

Running a racecourse and a golf course is a full-on job, and Eddie admits to missing many aspects of the role as he keeps things ticking over. He said: “One of my favourite things about working here is the social interaction with our team, our golf members and our daily visitors. That has all now ceased for the time being.

“Myself, Joe [Scriven, our golf superintendent] and Ray [Dreeling, the track foreman] see each other from a distance in the morning, agree who is going where, and that’s it for eight hours as we are up on a machine cutting grass, with a radio and mobile phone for company. This is very new to me, and I do find it difficult, but I also know how lucky we are to have jobs to go to. Our accountant Pat Skeehan is working daily in the office taking care of the administration, as well as the books which is very important at this time”.

One drawback for Eddie and the team, and for all businesses and society in general, is the great unknown – when will life return to some degree of normality? This hinders the planning process, as Eddie explained. “Our main objectives over the coming weeks are all short term; unfortunately long term planning is not something I can afford to do with so much uncertainty around this unprecedented situation.

“We want to be ready to go within minutes of a reopening being announced, and that means we work hard to maintain the standards we set for ourselves. This will become increasingly difficult as the weather improves and growth starts to kick in. However, we will do our best and continue to work within the guidelines set out. Everyone must play their part and racing is no different”.

With so much uncertainty, and remote working and social distancing being now the norm, it can be difficult to remain positive. Eddie understands this, but he keeps the chin up and hopes for the best.

“I am really optimistic that we will be back up and running again soon. Brian Kavanagh and the board of Horse Racing Ireland made a brave call to keep racing going behind closed doors. This saw 10 fixtures take place in this manner and, from what I hear, improvements were made after each fixture regarding social distancing measures and the overall safety of the people working on the day.

“This will stand to horse racing when we return as I am sure the Government departments will look at racing as a safe bet and slowly allow us all to get back to normality”.

Eddie Scally and all his fellow racecourse managers will be hoping for the same.