Free bet for Royal racegoers

Down Royal will offer a free £5 (€7.40) tote bet to racegoers at their next meeting on St Stephen's Day to compensate for the five abandoned races on Saturday.

The meeting was brought to an abrupt end after two races at the venue had to be evacuated because of a bomb alert, which turned out to be an elaborate hoax.

Although the abandoned races, which included the James Nicholson Wine Merchant Champion Chase, will not be rescheduled, Down Royal officials hope the free bet will go some way to make up for the setback.

“The free bet we are giving is equivalent to half the entrance fee on (St Stephen's Day),” Down Royal racecourse chairman Jim Nicholson told the Racing Post.

“We have suffered substantial losses. We cannot calculate an exact figure at this stage but it’s going to run into thousands. We are not rescheduling the meeting because there is no space in the calendar.”