Brave Display comes home at his ease under Seamie Heffernan at Down Royal on Saturday© Photo Healy Racing
Down Royal welcomed 500 spectators for both days of their big fixture last Friday and Saturday and manager Emma Meehan was pleased with how things went.
Being the first track to welcome back racegoers could have been viewed as a daunting undertaking but the team at Down Royal were well up to task.
"You wouldn't call 1000 (people) at Down Royal busy in normal times, but it is coming out of the pandemic. Very grateful to have 1000 here in line with the outdoor sport ruling for Northern Ireland which is 500 spectators and then 500 participants and owners, so industry is how we are classing it," said Meehan.
"It has been challenging obviously, we have had to draw a line in the sand in terms of the racecourse because our industry is adhering to the Republic of Ireland guidelines for social distancing and then obviously by nature of Northern Ireland, we are able to add that layer where we are welcoming spectators back.
"It has been difficult to marry two jurisdictions and translating to people why we are having to do that. The reality is that we have all come through the past 16/17 months and it has been challenging personally and professionally, so we can't emerge from this and not continue to respect where we are culturally with it (Covid-19). It is still part of our lives and, if we want to get back to normalcy, everybody would do well to remember that.
"I wasn't expecting the level of positivity that we have had - people that aren't known to us have emailed in and sent messages to say that they really enjoyed the format. It was different but actually they enjoyed the experience probably because they were tended to a bit more. Everything came to their table because legally until Monday table service is a functionality for any beverages, so we were able to afford them a level of service that we wouldn't ordinarily in an outdoor capacity. The icing on the cake for them is obviously the horses and the sun was shining.
"I think after all we have come through with only being ratified in a fortnight and achieved this, we were due a bit of luck and thank God the weather was on our side.
"I wanted to push on because psychologically we are all out of the game, so it is going to take a wee bit of layering before the cogs start moving in quick succession. I'm extremely proud of the team - the girls on the course and the lads on the course spearheaded by Shane (Webb, foreman), he has been up to midnight watering the past seven days without any qualm or quibble. People can say thanks to their team and it just be a soundbite but I genuinely mean it, we are a unit and I'm very grateful to them."
