THE TRADITIONAL hot whiskey was the cure for the winter chill at Leopardstown Racecourse in Dublin yesterday, as over 10,000 punters gathered for day four of the Christmas festival.
Woolly hats, scarves and gloves were the order of the day, with the glitz and glamour of Ladies Day a distant memory, as practically dressed punters studied the form book and tried to recoup some of their Christmas spending on the last day of the meeting.
"I came out of here yesterday up €150, so if I can do that again today it'll take a lot of the sting out of Christmas," said Dean Ryan from Swords in Co Dublin, shortly before the first race commenced at 12.25pm.
"Yesterday was a bit of a fluke, seeing as I know nothing about racing, but I've been talking to a few people who seem to know their stuff this morning and I have few tips for later on. Judge Roy Bean and Sizing Europe are supposed to be good each way bets."
Yesterday's meeting failed to draw the crowds of the previous days, with few familiar faces present to follow in the footsteps of Bono and his wife Ali Hewson, who attended on Friday, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern who showed face on Saturday, and Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary who cast his eye over Sunday's proceedings.
However, well known faces from the equine community were out in force, with racing aficionados such as Charlie Chawke, Joe Walsh, JP McManus and bookmaker Paddy Power all spotted in and around the winner's enclosure.
Unlike many of the 50,000 who attended in the three days before them, punters seemed to be keeping their distance from the bars at the racecourse and were instead opting for teas, coffees, soups and the odd visit to the Bushmills stand, where glasses of hot whiskey were flying off the counter.
"These aren't both for me," smiled Jane Power from Waterford city, as she sat on a step near the front of the Leopardstown stands holding two glasses of the hot liquor. "He's just gone over there to back a horse."
Betting figures for the day at Leopardstown were respectable, with a bookmaker turnover of more than €1.4 million and a Tote aggregate of some €400,000.
Drogheda bookmaker Declan Keegan said that, despite the country's economic woes, the betting had been strong over the first three days of the festival and that he was set for another good day if the result in the main race, the Grade 1 Festival Hurdle, went his way.
"Betting has been weak enough so far, but the first three races have been good. If the favourite Sizing Europe doesn't win the hurdle we'll make money," he said, shortly before the main event of the day went to post at 2.55pm.
A large crowd gathered in the main bar of the racecourse to get a bird's eye view of the day's race of note on television, and even with supportive shouts of "drive her on" and "go on you good thing" Sizing Europe ran out of steam towards the end and 3/1 shot Sublimity emerged victorious.
"We just about won on that one," smiled Keegan the bookmaker. "The recession will have to be put back to March."
