Frustrating week on many fronts for all concerned with greyhound and horse racing in Clonmel

A very frustrating week on many counts, particularly if you are associated with greyhound sport or horse racing in or around the Clonmel area.

Firstly, the track meeting scheduled for Sunday night had to be postponed, and has been rescheduled for this Saturday. This meeting is on a par with Produce Stakes final night, and the overlap with the coursing does wonders for the attendance and the atmosphere.

While the final day of the National Meeting fell afoul of the weather and has been rescheduled for Sunday, it’s a big ask of patrons to return to Clonmel for another overnight stay and, thus, most will choose one over the other.

There’s also the fact there are too many other attractions outside of the sport, and competition from within in the shapes of the semi-finals of the Best Car Parks Gold Cup at Shelbourne Park and the Guinness Trophy at Curraheen. They won’t help the track action on Saturday night, while one of the biggest days of the year at Leopardstown – the Hennessy Gold Cup meeting – is scheduled for Sunday, which won’t aid what should be a terrific conclusion to the coursing.

Many owners, trainers and supporters were extremely unhappy having heard late on that Saturday’s track meeting was called off. Their vexation is entirely understandable, though I don’t think it’s worth sticking the boot in with management and staff as the financial implications will hit hard enough over the coming months.

Everyone involved with the track knows how much the loss of that night has cost and, coming the same weekend a weekly newspaper printed an article regarding the current financial state of the track, I’m sure it’s been a tough few days in Clonmel.

Even the horse racing meeting, scheduled for this afternoon in Powerstown, had to be called off – another metaphorical kick to the financial nether regions of the town.

We may not agree with much of what has been happening within the industry in recent years, but such postponements as we’ve had to suffer this week only serve to remind what an important time it is for the industry to come together.

Everywhere you look these days, you see reference to television rights for greyhound racing (guilty of mentioning it more than once or twice in this column) and, though it’s not the perfect solution, it’s frustrating to hear that the start date — should it finally get the go-ahead — is being pushed out yet again.

It doesn’t help when, within our own community, there are those who claim it won’t work at this track or that track because those involved will pull strokes, etc. Maybe we like to think we invented the stroke, but we didn’t, and it’s certainly not an exclusively Irish act.

Yes, the regulations under which the sport has been run are loose with regard to clamping down on what we have come to accept as part of the game, but work is afoot to change that.

I will always have concerns about what it means for the industry to get into bed with bookmaking firms, but we all know financial concerns are not exclusive to Clonmel, and, collectively, we need revenue rapidly.

In recent weeks I’ve spoken to some people in full-time employment within the industry who freely admit they are getting nervous about their future within the sport. If the bookmaking firms are concerned about integrity in Irish racing we need to show them we can run a tight ship. Let’s not forget, though, we, too, should have reservations.

Most with an interest in betting will understand “SP jobs”, but that price manipulation can work in reverse, as suggested in a recent letter from Wolverhampton management to bookmakers at the horse racing track.

We might need the income, but we also need to be cautious about how much control we hand over. Policing must happen from both sides.

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The GMHD Insurances Juvenile Classic was due to get underway at Tralee track tomorrow night but, due to a shortage of entries, the start has been delayed until next Friday, February 13.

On the same night, there will be a benefit at Curraheen Park for the Cork Camogie Team, while the 2014 awards will take place at the track on Saturday, February 14. A week later, with heats divided across Friday and Saturday, the Greyhound & Pet World and Odds On Dog Food Supersprint, with a winner’s prize of 3,500, will get underway.

More immediately, the semi-finals of the Guinness Trophy feature on this Saturday night’s Derby.

The Youghal Track Supporters’ Club was in touch, asking that the hard work undertaken by management and staff to get last Monday’s 11-race programme to go ahead be recognised. On what was a bitterly cold day and evening, the card reached its conclusion without interruption, and there were quite a few new faces around, notably some English punters who had travelled for Clonmel coursing and were keen to fit some track racing into their schedule.