Killarney races in the sunshine brings back fond memories Watching Killarney on the TV last week had me reminiscing about the twenty plus years I spent on the racing circuit, travelling up and down the country reporting on the action. The Travelling Circus of Irish Racing Back in those days horse racing was like a travelling circus. During the summer months in particular, you were always on the road. Down Royal today, Wexford tomorrow, Ballinrobe the next day and so on. The road networks when I started back in the late 1980s hadn't changed much in over a hundred years. There were no motorways in Ireland and the routes to and from racecourses took you through the centre of every town and village as we endlessly crisscrossed the island going from meeting to meeting. Killarney: A Rare Chance to Unwind A festival meeting in the likes of Killarney gave most of us some well needed respite. Four or five days based at the one location. Jockeys, trainers, stewards, press, bookmakers, tote staff, valets, stalls handlers and a range of others associated with the daily workings of a race meeting would stay over. We all still had to do our work, but the six or seven hours of daily commuting was gone and boy did we take advantage of the down time. It was the equivalent of sailors going on shore leave. And there was nowhere better to do that than in Killarney. Stunning scenery, quality hotels, delicious food and lively bars and clubs that never seemed to close. And the best part of all, the town is within walking distance of the racecourse. It didn't matter what your day job was at the races, away from the track we all mixed together. Work related issues and differences of opinion were often settled over a pint on these away trips and for the most part everyone got on well. How the Racecourse Has Changed I do miss the camaraderie of those days, but times have changed and from a work perspective the racecourse is not the same place anymore. Motorways and bypasses have cut the journey times in half and because of that most working on the circuit wouldn't bother staying away anymore. Many of the permanent jobs, particularly in sports journalism, no longer exist and the pressrooms at the racecourses are unrecognisable in comparison to twenty or thirty years ago. In my time the pressroom in Killarney would have been thronged with representatives from all the trade publications and both national and regional newspapers. Nowadays a couple of agency guys can supply everyone. Article highlights: Killarney festival meetings once meant four or five days based in one town - now motorways mean nobody stays over. Pressrooms that used to be packed with journalists are now covered by "a couple of agency guys." The All Ireland Hurling final and the World Cup final didn't live up to their billing. The Decline of the Tote Jackpot The tote is another aspect of the Irish racing scene that has changed beyond recognition in recent years. Tote betting was a viable alternative to the bookies for racegoers years ago and there would often be a real buzz about the tote, if there was a Jackpot rollover at a festival meeting such as Killarney. It would be the talk of the racecourse if the Jackpot hadn't been won for a few days in a row, and punters, bookies and many of us working in other jobs at the races would be forming syndicates to try and win a share in it. If a Jackpot hadn't been won for a few days in a row during the summer months, the pool could quickly swell to €50,000 or more. With that in mind, it was sad to see the tote Jackpot pool at Killarney last Tuesday, the same day Oisin Murphy rode at the track, was just €255.94. And that figure is before the tote takes their cut out of the pool. Imagine picking 4 winners in a row at a race meeting and winning a share of less than €200 quid. A Jackpot pool thirty years ago would have been ten times that amount at a summer festival day in Killarney. A Sunday Overload of Sport Switching topics, if you managed to keep one on the action from the Curragh on Sunday you are a true horse racing fan. It was one of the biggest days of sport imaginable with: The All Ireland Hurling final The final round of the British Open The World Cup final I must have spent close to ten hours in front of the telly on Sunday and, with the exception of the golf, it was very disappointing. The Hurling was over as a contest by half time and the World Cup final was awful from start to finish. Top class horse racing rarely disappoints in the same way. The fact you haven't had to sit through it for hours probably helps, but it seems easier to warm to a one-sided contest when it happens in horse racing. We get as much of a kick out of seeing a scintillating victory by a potential superstar as we do a nail-biting finish. Joseph O'Brien Continues His Winning Run Even the Irish Oaks on Saturday was enjoyable despite the favourite being withdrawn that morning because she hadn't eaten her breakfast. Joseph O'Brien, who can do no wrong at the moment, went and won the race with another of his fillies, Johanna Walsh, in impressive style. It was nice to see connections of the fillies that finished second, third and fourth getting most, if not all, of their €50,000 supplementary fees back in prize money. I do however wonder why none of the €150,000 they stumped up makes it into the overall prize pot for the race? Fast Ground and Rare Blanks for Ballydoyle Another surprising element to the Curragh at the weekend was the performances of the Ballydoyle horses. Aidan O'Brien ran 21 runners across the two days, but drew a rare blank. Perhaps it had something to do with the fast ground, another thing we are not used to seeing very often. It really has been an extraordinarily good spell of weather and it looks set to continue through this week. The meteorologists are then predicting rain during Galway (I could have predicted that myself), which will come as a relief to all of Ireland's racecourse managers. It is not a particularly good look pouring thousands of gallons of water on racetracks every day when there are hosepipe bans in place up and down the country.
