Naas battles against the big freeze Naas Racecourse Manager Tom Ryan has called on HRI to help cash-strapped Irish tracks by re-running all meetings lost due to the cold snap over the coming months. Ryan's own track was snowed off last Sunday (January 3) and their meeting fixed for next Saturday would have to be considered in some doubt given the current poor weather outlook. He explained: “98% of our revenue comes from racing and after losing three meetings last year, of which two were re-run, Naas lost in the region of 120,000 euro in 2009.” “Racecourse Manager's by their nature are an optimistic bunch, and you always have to look forward. In fairness to HRI, they have softened their seven day rule whereby lost meetings had to be re-fixed within that period.” “We have a full-time staff of seven, and 15 race days to pay for that. A lot of racecourses are run to facilitate the industry, and in a good year we break even. The banks have been there to support us, and we are run on similar lines to a golf club on a not-for-profit basis. It is important that we manage our own affairs, and we run a tight ship at Naas,” he added.
