The pull of this weekend’s Dublin Racing Festival for cross-channel racing fans appears to be still strong despite the likely lack of British runners at Leopardstown.
In advance of Tuesday’s crucial acceptance stage, no more than three potential raiders could ultimately be in the mix for the €2 million event. They include Harry Derham’s Queen’s Gamble in a handicap hurdle.
Just a trio of British trained horses lined up at last year’s DRF and one of them, Madara, was successful for trainer Sophie Leech in the Ryanair Handicap Chase. La Bague Au Roi in 2019 remains the only cross-channel-trained Grade One winner in the DRF’s seven-year history.
La Bague Au Roi’s trainer, Warren Greatrex, may have a Grade One starter this time with Good And Clever, who is an outsider for Sunday’s Tattersalls Novice Hurdle. Leopardstown officials are also hopeful Fergal O’Brien’s Dysart Enos will cross the Irish Sea.
I Am Maximus favourite to emulate Tiger Roll and land back-to-back Grand National victories
Galopin Des Champs tops big Willie Mullins’ team for Dublin Racing Festival
Dublin Racing Festival continues to be big draw for British fans despite lack of cross-channel runners
Grade One Scilly Isles option at Sandown open for Impaire Et Passe
With just five weeks to Cheltenham, and Irish horses so dominant over the last decade, British representation on the track at the DRF has always been minimal but not so among fans.
Of last year’s record 36,020 official attendance over the two days, a massive 38 per cent were estimated to be cross-channel visitors. That was a significant increase on 2023, when British fans were 27 per cent of the 34,591 through the gates.
The pressures generated by last year’s Day One attendance of just over 20,000 means this weekend’s action is all ticket with a capacity limit of 18,500 each day.
On Monday, Leopardstown’s chief executive Tim Husbands said cross-channel tickets were tracking at about 30 per cent of total sales.
However, he also pointed out a complicating factor in how Saturday’s action finds itself in competition with the Ireland-England rugby international in Dublin. That has a 4.45pm kick-off, just 10 minutes after the final race at Leopardstown.
“The rugby taking place is definitely having some impact. It’s made it more complicated and we won’t really get a full picture until we get to the end of Sunday.
“We’re able to create a fanzone here which will definitely help as a place to see live sport. But if you have 50,000 people going to see England versus Ireland it’s going to impact something, particularly in the Irish market.
“In terms of the UK market there are a fair number going to that [the rugby] but a lot of them are coming over here for the Sunday. So, it’s kind of swings and roundabouts. Day One may end up being a little bit less and Day Two a little bit more.
“It is still tracking well, and the Dublin Racing Festival is absolutely unusual in terms of cross-channel interest,” Husbands said.
“It looks like Harry Derham’s Queen’s Gamble will come. Warren Greatrex’s Good And Clever will probably come. The only other one might be Fergal O’Brien’s Dysart Enos. Those three are pretty nailed-on to come. The other [entries] mainly all ran last weekend,” he added.
The eight Grade Ones up for grabs are highlighted by Saturday’s €250,000 Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup and the following day’s €200,000 Irish Champion Hurdle.
Husbands predicted ideal ground conditions for the DRF and said: “We got a good dose of rain over the weekend to support the watering we’re doing. I think the track will be perfect for National Hunt racing.”
A surfeit of rainfall was giving top British trainer Paul Nicholls a headache after a weekend deluge left much of his gallops underwater.
“It was biblical rain yesterday. I’ve never in 33 years seen weather like it and the amount of rain. Our hill gallop is absolutely fine, so we can use the hill gallop. Our loops and flat gallop are literally under water.
“You’ve never seen water like it, so we haven’t been able to assess the full damage yet because we can’t get on there, but I’ve never had water on the gallops, certainly not like we saw yesterday,” he reported.
“We just haven’t been able to assess the damage yet but it’s not good, it’s just one of those things.
“There’s no point hiding behind it and saying it’s all going to be OK. There’s a huge amount of damage which we’ll have to put right during the week,” Nicholls added.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to the Counter Ruck podcast for the best rugby chat and analysis
