LOOKING back over the seaseon, it has struggled to attract racegoers, save for a few obvious meetings.

On my circuit, the meeting at Dowth Hall is the stand out fixture. It shows what can be done with focussed marketing and, admittedly, a lot of financial input.

Several of the Wexford meetings have been very well supported, notably Ballinaboola, Lingstown and Monksgrange.

At the latter end of the season Stradbally had good crowds on their two days and moving their first meeting to Easter Monday didn’t do them any harm.

Easter Monday is a day that can hold a decent meeting every year at the correct venue in the south-east or midlands.

Mention of this meeting brings me to one of my bugbears of the season. The four-runner winner of three at Stradbally provided plenty of controversy; Itsanoldcliche and Teds Island fought out a thrilling finish, or so we thought. In fact both of them had taken the wrong course.

We, the paying public, were left in the dark for too long. No communication was forthcoming for at least five minutes. The result was then called. Another five minutes elapsed before we were informed that there was a stewards’ inquiry.

No details of the inquiry were offered until the announcement came that the third horse, Lacken Bridge, was now the winner. If the stewards are holding an inquiry the reason for same should be relayed clearly to all and sundry.

The whole affair led to a lot of confusion in the betting ring. Many of those who had backed Lacken Bridge had discarded their tickets and wanted payment. To be fair to all bookmakers I feel they handled events admirably.

The powers that be don’t seem to be too fussy about conveying information to the paying public.

The Punchestown Festival continues to grow steadily with good crowds and good turnover in the ring. I was disappointed that in this the era of instant communications we were not informed of the Rule 4 deduction for the withdrawal of Diakali in the Betdaq Champion Hurdle a tad sooner. It was a full 10 minutes before the announcement that all winnings were subject to a 10% deduction. This is not good enough.