GOOD news week for our sport. The first six months of 2019 show that Irish racing is in rude health, and hopefully it will continue in the same vein for the second half of the year.

With very few exceptions, all the movement was in a positive direction, apart from off-course betting with the Tote. This is something that will surely be a focus for the Horse Racing Ireland team, though they have to take some comfort from the fact that total on-course and Tote betting was down less than 1%. It may not be ideal, but that market is so competitive that even a status quo situation is sometimes welcome.