Weather looks set fair for the Christmas period A dry forecast for the upcoming week is good news for racing fans as Leopardstown, Limerick and Down Royal all prepare for the busy Christmas period. There is selective watering taking place on the chase track at Leopardstown ahead of their four-day Festival (December 26-29) and Clerk of the Course Lorcan Wyer gave an update this morning. “On the hurdle track the going on days one and two is yielding to soft, and it walks a little slower on the days three and four lines and we are leaving that as soft at present. “We are doing a little bit of selective watering on the chase track just to keep the kindness in it and the going is currently yielding, good to yielding in places. “The forecast is generally dry, cool and settled. It is turning a bit cooler from tomorrow onwards but not sub-zero (temperatures). “We will have an additional section of hurdles down the back, so if it is cloudy we will have nine hurdles for two miles, and if the sun is an issue we will potentially be jumping seven for two miles.” Limerick also hosts its traditional four-day Christmas Festival from December 26 to 29 and Clerk of the Course Paul Moloney gave an update yesterday afternoon saying: “We have fresh ground for all four days on the hurdle course, and we have 6-7 yards of fresh ground for day three and day four on the chase course. “We’ve had 19mm of rain since entries. There is the possibility of showers over the next 24 hours but it's to be dry thereafter until next Tuesday. “The going on the hurdle track is heavy and on the chase track is now soft to heavy.” There is also racing at Down Royal on December 26 and Clerk of the Course Brian Hamilton said yesterday, “We’ve had 15mm of rain since declaration stage. The going on the hurdle track is yielding, yielding to soft in places, and the going on the chase track is good to yielding, yielding in places. “The third last fence has been relocated to before turning into the straight to help us with low lying sun. It’s to be a sunny day on Friday. “The forecast up to Friday is for 1-2mm tomorrow (Tuesday) but mainly dry thereafter.”
