THE very successful two-day Northern Ireland Festival of Racing had just ended when racecourse manager Mike Todd and his team at Down Royal turned their attention to another favourite fixture of the year, that of their Boxing Day meeting on December 26th.

Very much part of the Christmas tradition for northern racegoers, this day is great value for an admission charge of £12 while the premium entrance package of £17.50 covers entry to the track, admission to the Beef Or Salmon Suite where one can enjoy a private bar, food outlets and balcony views of the finishing straight. Advance booking is required so contact the office on 028-92621256 or book online at http://www.downroyal.com/fixtures/details

Last Friday and Saturday, racegoers were greeted by the music of The Just Adam Band as they came through the turnstiles, followed by some excellent racing with locals delighted to see Colin McBratney saddle Robert Behan and Steven Wylie’s Topper Thornton to land the Porter & Co Beginners Chase.

Disappointingly, that was the only northern-trained winner over the two days but Gordon Elliott is practically an adopted son and everyone was pleased to see him have such a successful Festival, highlighted by Don Cossack’s smooth win in the Grade 1 JNwine.com Champion Chase. As usual, all five of his winners, and other runners, were really well turned-out as were those who led them up for the yard.

It was great to see the strong support from local sponsors with Pat and Joe Sloan on hand to make the presentation to the connections of Identity Thief, winner of the featured WKD Hurdle (Grade 2) on Friday, unfortunately they had no winner themselves to help balance out the books.

Patrons were also delighted with the opportunity to show their appreciation for Hurricane Fly who was paraded before racing on Saturday.