CO Carlow’s Shane Webb has settled in well as head groundsman at Down Royal racecourse and, having been pleased with how the on-course action went at the two-day Festival of Racing last month, is now looking forward to the track’s Boxing Day meeting.

“We used the majority of the track during the Festival, and trainers were very appreciative of that fact, but we still kept some back for Boxing Day,” Webb told us earlier this week. “Since the Festival, the ground has been walked-in, rolled-in and gone over with a verti drain and is in very good order.