Keogh hails Saturday switch as a resounding success
Leopardstown made the decision to switch to avoid a clash with yesterday’s Six Nations showdown between Ireland and England at the Aviva Stadium and were awarded with an increased attendance of 10,658, up 6% on last year.
“We’re delighted with how it worked,” Keogh said. “This happened a few years ago (in 2011) where it moved from a Sunday to a Saturday and it held up well so we were confident enough.”
Keogh said changing the day was a “sensible” move.
“Our audience is all sports fans.
“Particularly in Ireland people watch an awful lot of sport. People want to see everything so you have to be sensible. There’s two big events on this weekend and the date for the rugby match is fixed. No-one has any control over that. We’ve some control over our date so we were delighted to move it from a Sunday to a Saturday.”
Keogh argued the fact the Hennessy was on the same weekend as the rugby helped boost the attendance at the races.
‘‘What’s been very noticeable is we’ve had a huge number of English visitors here today and that’s a tourist market for Dublin. They come, stay in the hotels and, maybe, if they were coming to the match, they came a day early so to fit in Leopardstown.
“In terms of contribution to the overall economy, moving from a Sunday to a Saturday works. Clearly, from what you can see in the crowd today, we’re very happy with how it has worked out.”
