Dog tracks set to stage show jumping

Show jumping is to be staged at three greyhound stadia this summer.

It follows on from a suggestion in a review published last year by consultants Indecon that alternative uses be found for the stadia, as they were idle for much of the week. The idea was then mooted by Minister Simon Coveney as part of a strategic-planning process for the sport horse sector.

In a statement yesterday, Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) said the new “Jumping In The City series will see top-level national show jumping taking place in greyhound stadia in three of Ireland’s major cities”.

The events will take place on Friday evenings in June from 7pm to 10pm. The series will start on June 5 in Limerick, will then move to Curraheen Park in Cork on June 12, with the final taking place in Shelbourne Park in Dublin on June 26.

The emphasis, it said, “will be on creating an evening of entertainment designed to attract a new audience for show jumping and equestrian sport”. Accordingly, the three nightly classes — an amateur top-score competition, a grand prix and a puissance — are geared for entertainment and designed to appeal to the uninitiated.

It is expected that betting facilities will be in operation, but HSI could not confirm this, nor the level of prizemoney, last night.

HSI said it and “the Irish Greyhound Board are very excited to be working together on this new venture that will benefit both sports”.

The Greyhound Board is 22m in debt and one of the suggestions by Indecon was that it sell off assets, including the Harold’s Cross track, and transform its performance if it is to survive. As such, the use of its stadia for show jumping is politically, if not financially, attractive.

Tickets and will be sold through the Greyhound Board’s sales centre. There will also be corporate hospitality options.

HSI said the ground in the stadia “have been inspected and are of a good standard for grass-based arenas”.

Meanwhile, Captain Michael Kelly finished runner-up with Drumiller Lough in a 1.45m class on the Sunshine Tour in Vejer de la Fronter, Spain, yesterday.

The tour did not live up to its title yesterday with very bad weather during the event, said the Army officer, who has been in the ribbons in eight of nine classes he has ridden the gelding.