Merry People is best in the mud

There may have been a £20,000 handicap chase featured in a competitive card at Tralee yesterday but the state of the ground was the focus of most attention after another 24 hours of heavy rain.

Speculation that a possible decision to switch today's scheduled all jumping meeting to Saturday was to be made increased after the first two races when some mud-spattered jockeys returned to pronounce the ground "unraceable."

Champion flat jockey John Murtagh, after finishing last on Sarapaka in the 12 furlong maiden, remarked: "There's no bit of decent ground out there," an opinion supported by Pat Shanahan who rode the winner Rum Baba.

Conor O'Dwyer, who finished tailed-off in the opening hurdle won by Jack Fla, said: "It's hard to judge exactly but it's not really raceable. My horse walked up to the last and fell over it. If it keeps raining, it must be 1 to 10 racing going ahead tomorrow."

That widespread opinion helped the consideration of a switch to Saturday but that upset some trainers. The Trainers Association chairman, Willie Mullins, was against such a move and said: "It's raceable today. The horses are getting through it and they may not be able to in two days time."

The stewards eventual decision to go ahead today, providing the track passes a morning inspection, must have been helped by the comparatively good reports of the condition of the chase track, a view backed up by the victory of Merry People, thought to be a good ground performer, in the featured Denny Handicap Chase.

The outsider of the field raced wide all the way and battled on strongly to hold Heist by a length and a half; giving trainer John Queally his second pleasant surprise of the day.

"I was very surprised when I walked the track because in fairness it's a lot better there than on the hurdles and chase course," he said. "I told Norman (Williamson) to go as wide as he liked and it worked." An inquiry was held into possible interfence between the first and second when bypassing the third last fence but no action was taken.

The officials felt that Paul Carberry on the runner-up might have been impeded by Williamson's mount as they by-passed the third last fence which had been dolled off because of the deteriorating conditions.

"They wanted to find out whether I had tightened Paul up where we by-passed that fence. I left him enough room I felt and the stewards thankfully seemed to agree," said a relieved Williamson.

The favourite Idiots Venture trailed in almost 30 lengths adrift in fourth, and was dismounted by Charlie Swan but appeared to walk away sound from the unsaddling enclosure.

Native-Darrig put up a stirring weight carrying performance to win the Denny Havasnack under Ruby Walsh, beating Winged Hussar whose rider Philip Dempsey picked up a four-day ban for using his whip with excessive force and frequency.

Racing closed with a dead heat between Top Carisma and the favourite Urban Dancer whose nose was forced up on the line by a powerful Michael Kinane drive.

The weighroom at Wexford racecourse was badly damaged by fire after vandals broke into it in the early hours of yesterday morning.

An estimated £30,000 worth of damage was caused after a stack of towels was set alight at approximately 2 a.m. Extensive damage was caused to the roof of the building.