Postponement continues Fairyhouse’s tale of woe
The card had already been rescheduled from last Sunday and will now take place next Wednesday, December 8.
Acting course manager, Peter Roe, said: “We had no chance of racing, the track is covered in six inches of snow.
“The plan is to race on Wednesday, with the exact same eight-race card we were going to have this Thursday. We hope there will be some let-up in the weather over the weekend to allow us to race.” There will be fresh entries, which will close at 12.00 noon tomorrow.
The three Grade 1 races, however - the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle, Drinmore Chase and Royal Bond Novice Hurdle - will revert to the original entries and fresh forfeits, or supplementary entries, must be made by noon tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s postponement is the continuation of what has been a terrible start to the National Hunt campaign for Fairyhouse.
The misery began when Fairyhouse had to abandon after just four races on November 3. That meeting took place on their inside track and false ground was the problem.
The inside track will not be used for the rest of the season and will take significant remedial work to put right.
Roe would not be drawn on the likely cost of that work, although accepting it would be considerable.
“Consultants Sports Turf Research Institute will be coming in to look at Fairyhouse”, he said.
Between next Wednesday and Easter, the course is set to house 11 meetings, but it seems virtually certain they will not all take place at Fairyhouse.
Commented Roe: “The cost won’t be so much what the work on the track will be, but rather the loss of income on meetings.”
A figure of €500,000, the cost of the work and the loss of income combined, may not be too wide of the mark.
Fairyhouse is due to race twice in December, three times in January and three times in February. The final meeting in February will be on the 23rd and then there is a long break until the three-day Easter Festival, starting on Sunday, April 24.
“We are going to run out of ground and I would be worried about the meetings in January and February”, revealed Roe.
“I have absolutely no doubt that Easter will be okay.”
At this stage, there are concerns as well regarding the main track and they are triggered by the fact that there is now a safety limit of 16 for every race, on one of the widest courses in the country!
For Roe it has been a real baptism of fire, since he took over as caretaker manager at Fairyhouse on October 10.
His main job, of course, is as manager at Tipperary Racecourse and he is filling in for Caroline Grey, who is on maternity leave.
“The gods certainly haven’t shone on me since my arrival”, admitted Roe.
Transferring Fairyhouse to Wednesday - admission will be free - means there will now be two meetings in Ireland that day, with Dundalk set to take place that evening.
At the moment no racing is scheduled for tomorrow week, Thursday, December 9. The likelihood, however, is that if either of next Sunday’s meetings, Punchestown or Clonmel, doesn’t go ahead then they would slot into that date.
Punchestown was covered in snow yesterday, but Clonmel, remarkably, was reported to be fit for racing.
Horse Racing Ireland yesterday announced an additional meeting at Dundalk next Saturday, with the first contest at 3.10. Dundalk is also due to race on Friday night.
Meanwhile, appeals against whip bans, recently incurred by Patrick Mullins (six days) and Joseph O’Brien (two days), will be held at the Turf Club this afternoon.
