Locals race to the rescue as festival gets back on track

RACING at Tramore was back on track again last night after a disappointing start on Thursday to the four-day festival at the top Waterford venue.

Locals, disappointed the first day of the meeting was abandoned because of slippery conditions, turned out in their droves from 7am yesterday to offer their help.

They were back again just after 5pm and rallied along with visitors to the region and racing fans from across the country to make up for the disappointment of the previous evening.

“You really get to know who your friends are when a crisis like this erupts,” said course manager, Sue Phelan, yesterday.

“We had loads of people turning up here from the very early hours, offering to lend a hand in whatever way possible. They were as disappointed as us that racing could not continue yesterday,” Ms Phelan said.

As a gesture of goodwill, admission to the course was cut from 15 to just 7. This spurred even more to support the races and join in the fun.

“We have a full entry from jockeys and trainers. They’ve been ringing here all morning to be told the course is fine and racing is going ahead,” Ms Phelan said.

“The Turf Club passed the course. It was harrowed and we realigned some of the bends, even though the jockeys were happy with them yesterday. We have also sanded in the opposite direction of the grass. It’s all worked out great and we are very appreciative of all the help and offers of support we’ve had.”

Course director, Karl Casey, said it was very regrettable that racing had been called off after just three races on Thursday.

“I’m confident that we can get back on track now today. Nobody wanted racing to stop but it had to for safety reasons,” he said.

The festival continues tomorrow with a family day, where there will be plenty of entertainment for children.