A recession-busting Most Stylish Lady was one of the few displays of colour yesterday, writes FRANK McNALLYat Leopardstown
IT WAS a white Christmas at Leopardstown yesterday, but not like the ones we used to know.
Yes the tree tops glistened, thanks to frost: the problem was you couldn’t see them, or anything else on the track, after the fourth race. Instead of the big freeze that had threatened the proceedings earlier in the day, it was fog that finally defeated them, forcing the meeting to be abandoned prematurely.
The rapidity with which the curtain fell was extraordinary. One moment, conditions were almost perfect. The next, before you could sing a chorus of Mull of Kintyre, an old mist had rolled in from the sea. And that was that.
Sir Alex Ferguson, whose horse was contesting the day’s feature race, shared the 16,000-strong crowd’s bemusement. No sooner had he told us how much he enjoyed racing as an escape from the pressures of football, than suddenly he and the rest of us were staring out at a race track on which all the horses, including his own, had disappeared.
It was the most dramatic loss of visibility at a sporting event involving the Manchester United manager since that day in 1996 when his football team played in grey against Southampton and were 3-0 down before having to change shirts at half time.
His jockey yesterday was wearing white, as it happened. But this time, a mere colour change would not have improved things.
With the fences dangerously camouflaged, there was no question of the €150,000 Lexus Chase being run until conditions improved. Hoping the mist might roll out again as quickly as it had rolled in, the organisers first delayed the race by half an hour. Then it became clear that the Lexus Chase was, at least for yesterday, a wild goose chase.
The event was duly postponed for 24 hours and the last two races abandoned altogether.
Before it became the day of the fog, it had been the day of the frog: the Fat Frog, to be exact. This was the name of the syndicate whose horse won the afternoon’s curtain raiser: the Woodies DIY Christmas Hurdle.
A 13-member group, drawn from Clare, Limerick, and South Tipperary, the syndicate takes its name from a well-known cocktail: something partly explained by the fact that the members’ initial decision to buy a horse was made at a stag party in 2003.
The stag in question, Keith Howard, was there with the rest of them yesterday, witnessing a €29,295 payday for a horse that cost them less than a quarter of that. And cocktails or not, further celebrations were expected last night.
“The bus came up slowly from Limerick, but it may be even slower going back,” said Howard.
The Fat Frog syndicate aside, this was a more sober Leopardstown than past years, in every sense. Attendance figures were again well down on the same day of 2008 and betting figures would have mirrored the decline, even if fog had not guillotined the meeting.
The recessionary mood was neatly captured by Martha Lynn, winner of the day’s big non-racing event: the “Most Stylish Lady Competition”. Not only did her outfit feature the before-and-after colours of Ireland’s recent exchequer figures – black and red – but in keeping with straitened times, it was an outfit of which Woodies DIY would been proud.
She made the hat herself; bought the coat from Penney’s; and received the tights as a Christmas present. Even allowing for accessories, the whole ensemble didn’t cost her much more than €100. In return for which, she secured both money and fame. The prize was a €2,000 shopping voucher for Fran Jane, making her outfit an even bigger bargain than the Fat Frogs’ horse.
Ms Lynn will get also a six-page photo shoot in the April issue of Irish Tatler, for which she will be dressed by the sponsors.
Weather permitting, the Lexus Chase will now be held today, when events the Leopardstown will echo the winter sales happening elsewhere.
Doors are due to open early, allowing for a rare pre-noon start (11.50am) to accommodate the extra race. Bargains are also promised, mainly to compensate for yesterday’s shortened card, but in keeping the season, normal admission prices have been cut by 40 per cent, from €25 to €15 a head.