INCOMING Limerick racecourse manager Emma White is raring to take on “a big challenge” when she takes up her new role on January 24th.

White is currently the general manager of Sedgefield racecourse and was approached by Limerick last month to see if she’d be interested in taking over the role of general manager at the track.

“I got a phone call just to see if I might be interested and when I got to have a good look at the track to see what sort of facilities they had, the grandstand and what they were doing for non-raceday business as well and it really interested me.

“I’m really excited about the position. I love Irish racing and National Hunt racing, I know we do some flat racing as well, but National Hunt is definitely where my passion lies.”

White has been at Sedgefield, a jumps track in Northern England, for just over three years. She previously worked for Go Racing In Yorkshire, a marketing organisation for the nine courses in Yorkshire, where she played a significant role in attracting an attendance of over 100,000 people to a special nine-day meeting that involves a day of racing at each of the tracks.

On making a big move to Limerick, she said: “Limerick has really progressed over the last decade or so and I think there is a lot more to come.

“It’s a watch-this-space kind of thing. Everyone at the course is really forward thinking. I’m hoping to push that as far as I can.

“I’d love to get some better racing there on a regular basis but we’ll see what we can do. There has to be a place for lower grade racing as well and I’m really passionate about that grassroots side of the game.

White will move over to Limerick on her own in January before her family join her later next year, and she added: “It is a big move because it’s not just me, it’s my husband, my daughter, three dogs, seven horses and three ponies. It’s going to be like some sort of crazy military operation!

“I can’t wait to get started. It’s a big adventure and new challenge and I love a challenge.”