THE Tattersalls Irish Guineas Festival is very likely to remain a two-day fixture following last weekend’s Curragh meeting which was attended by over 12,000 racegoers.

Previously a three-day affair, the Guineas Festival shed its Friday date this year and that meeting was transferred to Good Friday when free admission helped swell crowd numbers.

Curragh CEO Brian Kavanagh said: “I was very happy with the Guineas Festival. The quality of the racing was more concentrated and of course we had great weather. I was delighted with the field sizes and the British representation. Hopefully that was a reflection of the improved prize money and the type of race we are offering, though you can always do more on prize money.

“The racing was interesting and competitive, with plenty of talking points coming out of each race. Getting the quality of the racing right is the first thing, but we also had a lot of off-track entertainment. We had the Ashford Castle Style event on Saturday and a band playing after racing, and a new thing we are doing on classic days is interviewing racing personalities in the Champions Hall in between races.

“I was happy with the atmosphere around the track – we put up a temporary viewing area on the terrace outside the champagne bar and it was full on both days – and the attendance was 12% up on the corresponding two days last year.”

All races on Saturday’s 2000 Guineas card were part of the World Pool and the two Group 1 races on Sunday were also included, which should boost the racecourse’s finances.

This week it was confirmed that all races on Irish Oaks day will also be World Pool races, meaning that at least part of all five classic days at the Curragh are part of the Hong Kong Jockey Club-controlled initiative.