ST Bridget was smiling on Leopardstown last weekend.

The first year of our new bank holiday weekend and the sun shone. It might never happen again but racing fans certainly didn’t miss the opportunity for a day at the races.

Total attendance for the weekend reached 34,951 which was up 40% on last year and 32% up on the record figure from early 2020. Yes, the world may be in turmoil but some people still have money to spend.

Several hundred racegoers had gathered outside the entrance building on Saturday before the gates opened at 11am. There were plenty of British accents in the crowd, with reportedly 27% of advance ticket sales bought by our neighbours.

The general feeling was that the visitors felt they were getting good value. General admission was €35, weekend ticket €60, with premium level access for €80 per day. Compare that with £72 for the Tattersalls enclosure at Cheltenham, and £108 for the Club enclosure.

There were reports on long queues for drinks and toilets (even for men!) which will need more attention, though apparently it’s still better than at Cheltenham.

Irish rock music was blasting out over the PA, from the Horslips and Thin Lizzy to Fontaines DC. Well, it was preferable to endless previews. The sound system seemed to be improved in the grandstand too.

To hear a roar go up when the first race got underway would gladden your heart. So many young people in the crowd and, listening in to their banter, a lot of them knew their racing.

There was a video doing the rounds on social media on Saturday evening of Rich Ricci heading back into town on the Luas, being cheered or possibly teased by his fellow passengers.

Saturday’s action clashed with a few rugby matches but there was no question of the egg-chasing being televised on the big screens. Off to the sports bar with you if that’s your game. As one of the Paddy Power hoardings proclaimed: ‘Ireland’s best athletes are here today. All the excitement of the rugby. Fewer lads named Hugo’.

A winning favourite, Good Land, got the day off to a good start for many. Bookmaker Anthony Kaminskas later told me: “We lost a couple of grand on the first race, and on the second [won by Gala Marceau]. In the Arkle we were looking at a €20,000 swing, depending on whether the favourite Appreciate It won or lost. I watched it on my phone in the toilets. When he went 1/3 in-running, I thought we were gone but El Fabiolo saved us and the day just got better after that.

“Turnover was brilliant. We handled twice as much on Saturday as we took on the busiest day of the Galway Races.”

The weather turned a bit dirty towards the end of day one, the final two races being run in misty rain. It will have been welcomed by the groundstaff who came in for a lot of praise over the weekend. They called it yielding officially and most jockeys and trainers seemed to agree.

An overall verdict? The racing was top-class and did not turn into a procession of odds-on winners, as feared. The 15 races produced six winning favourites, only two of them odds-on (Galopin Des Champs and Gaelic Warrior). Three odds-on shots were beaten.

Only Liz Doyle managed to break the Mullins-Elliott dominance on Sunday. Of course you’d like to see more stables able to take on Willie Mullins but at least the champion saddled a good few in most of the Grade 1s to keep us guessing and entertained.

In that regard, the Dublin Racing Festival could be called a mini-Cheltenham and the public seem to be giving it the thumbs-up.

Hey, I’ve a great idea. Let’s think up a few new races and add on the bank holiday Monday. We’ll start with a mares’ novice chase ...