Stepping back may be the way forward for Listowel

When racing first came to Listowel, back in 1858, the meeting provided a platform for the celebrations of local farmers, whose harvest toil had just come to an end.

They came to spend the money they had earned from the summer’s work — and they enjoyed it.

The appeal of the opportunity to let one’s hair down in the carnival atmosphere of the racetrack initially drew the local community but, such was its success, it soon stretched beyond the town and county bounds.