IT’S 40 years since the Irish Hospital Sweepstakes was formally wound up but the idea has gained a new lease of life at some racecourses, notably Gowran Park, Naas and the Curragh.

Staged from 1930 until the mid-1980s, the ‘Irish Sweeps’ was a state-run lottery, centred around the Irish Derby and other major races. It was set up to raise funds for Irish hospitals, but while it enriched its founders, there remains controversy over how the scheme operated and how its profits were distributed.

In recent years, and on a far smaller scale, the Curragh has operated a sweepstake around the Irish Lincolnshire and Cesarewitch to benefit local sports clubs and charities, while Naas adopted the concept for the Irish EBF Ballyhane Stakes, allocating each of the runners to racegoers whose names are drawn at random from a racecard draw.

Last Monday, a public holiday, Gowran Park staged a sweepstake around its feature race, the Irish EBF Gowran Classic. The winner received €1,000 in cash.

Track manager Eddie Scally reported: “We had free admission on the day, sponsored by the Irish National Professional Bookmakers Association for the second year in a row. That went down a treat and we had a big attendance, though not as many as you would get for Red Mills day. As flat racing goes, it was a healthy crowd and there were a lot of families here.

Fully-free day

“We wanted it to be a fully-free day, so there was no cost to enter the sweepstake. We had people at the entrance handing out entry forms and racegoers just had to fill it in and put their entry form in the drum provided.

“We drew 13 names and assigned each of them a runner in the race. The winners were all called to the parade ring, so they felt like they were owners. It was great fun.

“I dodged a bullet actually because my mother’s name was picked out, but fortunately her horse didn’t win or I would have had a few questions to answer!”

Scally felt the sweepstake was a fun addition on the day and said he would consider repeating it in the future using an entry form in the racecard.

Referring back to Monday’s meeting, Scally added: “We switched around the running order on the day. Last year we ran the classic as the first race, but we felt it deserved a bigger build-up so we moved it to the fifth race.

Camera man

“We also had what I call ‘Gowran TV’, which was a presenter and camera man roaming around the track all day showing everyone different things that were going on, from the parade ring to the choir performing, the play area and petting zoo.

“All of this footage was shown on the big screens and close circuit. Sometimes when you are at the races, you don’t see half of what is going on.”

Another initiative was having The Lady Dysart Choir welcome the winner of the big race, Bunyola Bay, back into the winner’s enclosure.

“We wanted it to be a big spectacle,” Scally explained. “Unfortunately, the winning trainer and owner were not there. Maybe when they see the video they will be sorry they missed it. That’s what you want to create, the fear of missing out if you weren’t there. Our aim in putting on all these things is to have people talking about it when they leave.”

Looking ahead, Gowran Park has just completed the installation of a lawn bar. “It’s between our parade ring and the weighroom. We’ve put in these big pergolas, high-topped tents, and we’ve put in a full patio area. I think that will be a winner for our barbecue evenings, which start next Friday.”