Naas and Thurles set to go ahead on Saturday

RACING COULD return to Ireland with a vengeance on Saturday with the scheduled Naas fixture now set to be joined by Thurles.

Horse Racing Ireland confirmed last evening that today’s scheduled Thurles fixture has been reset for Saturday and the meeting originally due to be run at Thurles tomorrow will be run off on Monday.

“We would be very confident about Saturday and the extra time will help the chase track for Monday,” said the Thurles manager Pierce Molony.

He consulted with the Naas manager, Tom Ryan, to see if there was a problem with clashing on Saturday but Ryan gave him his permission to go ahead.

“We all have to club together at this time and I don’t see his clientele coming to Naas anyway,” Ryan said yesterday.

“I’m a lot more hopeful about our meeting today. I think we have a real fighting chance of racing. All the snow is gone and really we are depending on how much rain falls here on Friday,” he added.

Hopes are also rising in Fairyhouse for their Normans Grove Chase day on Sunday.

“We have had rain on and off but nothing significant so we are a little more confident,” said manager Caroline Gray. “There is, however, rain forecast for Friday and Friday night so we will see how much we get.”

The outlook was not so positive in Cork yesterday ahead of their Sunday fixture. “The snow melted here Monday and then we got almost two inches of rain. But it is not soaking away as quickly as normal and that is what is worrying us,” said manager Michael O’Neill yesterday.

“What we’re afraid of is that the ground is frozen underneath which means the water is just sitting. The Turf Club inspector of courses is here tomorrow to take a look,” he added.