Down Royal will open a new £250,000 stand next Thursday. The steel stand will replace one which had been in existence since 1906.

Mike Todd, manager of the track, says: "The stand will be in operation for our Boxing Day meeting. It is one of many improvements we have made at the racecourse over the last five years. The cost of this stand and the main grandstand, which was built in 1993, is over £1 million."

A grant from the Irish Horseracing Authority will also mean that the track will have its prize money boosted from next month.