Racing fans out to watch a gallop by the scallops

FOR SOME, horse racing on the beach represents all that is best about Irish life.

When the Economist Intelligence Unit placed Ireland as the clear leader in its “quality of life” index for 111 countries in 2005, the news and international affairs magazine with a weekly circulation of one million copies showed children building sandcastles in the foreground, while the horses galloped past in the background.

Cork’s best known beach races take place next Sunday, July 22, at Courtmacsherry.