THE southern region were back in Kerry last Sunday for the second renewal of the Castlegregory Beach Races where the only dampener was that the scheduling of two meetings saw a shortage of eligible riders that resulted in some horses being unable to take up their engagements.

This lack of young riders should be of concern to everybody in racing and a far cry from 10 years ago when there were more than enough enthusiastic aspiring jockeys to allow three meeting to be held on many days.