AS catering contracts manager for Horse Racing Ireland, it is my brief to maintain and increase standards in all of our catering outlets. Today’s racegoer quite rightly expects a higher quality of service and it is my responsibility to meet their requirements.

As a passionate foodie, I want to spread the message that high quality food and racing can indeed go hand-in-hand.

In fact,we run some of the best restaurants in Ireland.

I didn’t have any direct involvement with racing, although my grandfather owned a racehorse way back. He was also very involved in the greyhound industry; helping to establish the track in Newbridge. However, as a child, one couldn’t help but notice the horses on the Curragh each morning and the large crowds that gathered for big race days.

Like any young lad my age, I went to the Irish Derby and Punchestown festival every year.

After finishing in school, I studied at Cathal Bruga College of Catering, where I graduated with a hotel management degree. Later, I worked for the Great Southern Hotel Group in Killarney, Parknasilla and Eyre Square in Galway.

I went on to have a varied and successful career within the food industry; owning my own business, designing restaurants and doing some consulting work.

The opportunity to work with HRI came about through Joe Keeling (chairman) who is passionate about food quality and Irish food provenance; he introduced the new role in order to ensure a constant oversight on all food operations at all Horse Racing Ireland racecourses.

At the moment I am working with seven tracks: Leopardstown, Fairyhouse, Navan, Curragh, Tipperary, Cork and Naas.

I also do some consultancy work for the latter racecourse, who are currently in the process of redeveloping their facilities.

RELATIONSHIPS

Part of my remit is to ensure a good working relationship between caterers and racecourse managers.

HRI work with five catering contractors: Fitzers, Coughlan Catering/Aramark, Excellent Choice Catering, O’Brien Lynch Catering and Woodlands Catering.

I appreciate that it is difficult to strike a balance between both sides, as caterers need to make a reasonable profit on their product, while racecourse managers have budgets which have to be adhered to.

At the same time, the customer has to be the number one priority; getting the best quality food and the highest level of service each time they attend the track.

During a race day I visit each catering outlet a number of times to ensure food quality and service are up to our high standards. I welcome feedback from racegoers as they are the main people that we need to satisfy with our produce.

Once the racing has concluded, I sign off on the days business and a range of key performance indicators are vigorously pursued to strive for excellence.

SUPPORTING LOCAL

I am a firm believer in supporting local producers and food suppliers. To this end, we source home grown produce whenever possible. We work closely with Bord Bia to ensure that the origins of all such produce can be traced back to the supplier.

Racecourse catering is challenging by its nature.

There are an average of 20 race days per track annually. Each race day is a fresh start from the ground up, with differing variables every time.

From events like the Christmas Festival at Leopardstown, the Irish Derby at the Curragh, the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse and Bulmer’s Live Series also at Leopardstown, we move from the spectacular events to the regular industry race day, all requiring a different set up.

Our main objective is to give racegoers what they want and then add some creativity to what we offer and of course introduce new products. We want everyone to have an enjoyable racing experience.

I feel that the social side of a day at the races is something that we have not yet fully embraced in this country.

SOCIAL OCCASION

I met with some Australian visitors at Tipperary recently and they were telling me there is a membership of 30,000 at Flemington racetrack, where crowds in excess of 90,000 gather to watch the Melbourne Cup every November.

In Ireland, we are slowly starting to appreciate the attraction of racing as a social occasion, with the Bulmer’s Live Series at Leopardstown leading the way.

I thoroughly enjoy my job and the challenge of bringing racecourse catering to new levels and my long term objective is to continue to set and maintain the highest standards in the racecourse catering industry.

Already I and the catering teams that I work closely with have made significant and noticeable improvements which are being very well received by racegoers.

It’s wonderful to be working with racecourse managers and catering companies who are as committed as I am to delivering the best possible experience to our customers and ultimately that’s what its all about – our race-going customers.

Morgan McCabe was in coversation with John O’Riordan