Bumper weekend beckons for Dublin track

RACING:LEOPARDSTOWN WILL hope to stage a bumper weekend of racing in two weeks after the valuable MCR Hurdle card, originally due to be run tomorrow, was transferred yesterday to Saturday, January 23rd.

That means the Co Dublin course will race on Saturday and the following day, when the Irish Champion Hurdle fixture is set to be run.

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) also confirmed that the Punchestown fixture, due to be run today but cancelled during the week, has been rescheduled to Wednesday week, January 20th.

The arrangements depend on the arctic weather loosening its grip, but the prospects of that happening in the near future don’t appear to be good.

“The Met Office are telling us this weather will continue next week, and of course it could go beyond that. But we can only do what we can do, so we’ll have to wait and see,” said Leopardstown’s manager Tom Burke yesterday.

“I wasn’t around for the last real big freeze in the 1960s, but this is a pretty unprecedented move for us. All this has happened so we are just going to have to deal with it,” he added.

Today’s scheduled all-weather cards in Britain, Lingfield and Kempton, are dependant on 6.30 inspections. Lingfield raced yesterday, but the authorities feel it is prudent to inspect with between 3-5cm of snow forecast for the greater London area.

In other news, the €90,000 Thyestes Chase, set to be run at Gowran on Thursday week, has a new sponsor in the horsefeed manufacturer, Tendrleen.

“It is a difficult economic time for companies and this is a brave move in sponsorship terms,” said HRI chief executive Brian Kavanagh.

The HRI boss also hit back at criticism by the bookmakers association of the decision not to race at Dundalk’s all-weather circuit during the cold snap.

“Our priority now is to stage jump racing. Dundalk can’t take jump racing and there is no demand from trainers to reschedule fixtures at Dundalk,” Kavanagh said.

“The fixture list is agreed every year and both trainers and jockeys wanted a break in the flat season.

“Should the flat season close for two months is another question, and a different debate, when the fixture list is being drawn up,” he added.