Fairyhouse Weekend

Keep an eye out for Dad's Lad in the Handicap Hurdle Sunday if declared.
His is a story in the Seabiscuit mould.
One of the few of Eliot's progeny to see a racecourse yet , neither his dam nor maternal parents had bred a winner.
Himself placed in two Bumpers for breeder Michael Bates before being bought by Harold Kirk for the Mee family for 46k.
Sent to WPM and after a wind op he was placed in two more Bumpers before being unplaced when favourite in a Galway bumper.
Second in his first maiden hurdle the Mee family decided to cut their losses and entered Dad's Lad for Doncaster Sales in October.
Luckily some of our friends in Whitegrass Racing were looking for a horse to purchase , rather than lease so bought David's Lad at less than half what the Mees paid for him, at Patrick Mullins' recommendation.
They have been rewarded with two wins from two runs , his last at Cork impressing the handicapper to raise him from 109 to 120, enough to get him into the Barone Handicap Hurdle worth 80,000.
Among the entries is Purple Mountain owned by the Mees, also WPM trained.
Best of luck to all involved, some have had three days racing since Summer with their two runners; three runs yielding three wins between them.
The Game can be that easy; for some .
 
Thinking Impervious and Cape Gentleman are a tad overpriced in their respective events and I have already got a nice bet on Abas' ew in the Hattons at double figures.
 
Lovely performance from Honeysuckle on her seasonal reappearance. Tell you what though, Stormy Ireland, what a white knuckle ride he must be, think he made mistakes at every hurdle today!
 
What a superb day, enjoyed in the best of company. Fortunately most of the rest of what Barry Geraghty had to say was more reliable. He wisely abstains from saying which horse was the better, Moscow Flyer or Sprinter Sacre, because he understandably doesn’t want to get lynched on either side of the Irish Sea. But apart from that particular matter he shared some forthright opinions with us.

Honeysuckle was the equine star of the day and fully deserved the big reception she got from the crowd. However it was sad to see Latest Exhibition breaking down in the same race.
 
Geraghty was very interesting. When asked why Irish jockeys were so much better than their cross-channel counterparts he mentioned something about learning to ride in Donegal 5F pony races on tracks that were 3F in circumferance. And behavioural trends perfected in WW1.
 
This all sounds very intriguing. Any chance of you all sharing the 'forthright opinions' he expressed?
 
Hey. Just saw a story on the RP website saying Leopordstown crowds at Christmas are going to be capped at 10k. I'm not a subscriber so can't see the article.

If someone could post it I would really appreciate it. Thanks

Sent from my SM-J415FN using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
littlelad said:
Hey. Just saw a story on the RP website saying Leopordstown crowds at Christmas are going to be capped at 10k. I'm not a subscriber so can't see the article.

If someone could post it I would really appreciate it. Thanks

Sent from my SM-J415FN using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Leopardstown will cap its crowd at 10,000 per day for its Christmas festival because of Covid-19 protocols.

There are no restrictions in place at Irish racecourses but, in order to ensure a comfortable experience for those in attendance, chief executive Tim Husbands said a limit on the amount of people allowed through the gates was needed.

Husbands urged racing fans to book their tickets as early as possible as all four days are expected to sell out. Only those with pre-ordered tickets will be granted access, and hospitality for days two and three of the meeting – December 27 and 28 – is already full.

Husbands told the Racing Post: "We will have a working capacity of 10,000 a day for our Christmas festival. We are planning for a limited capacity because of the need for social distancing and the various Covid protocols. I'd like to think there will be no significant U-turn by government in the coming weeks and that's what we are preparing for at the moment.

"This is the first year where we will have advance ticketing only for the Christmas festival. Usually 70 to 80 per cent of our crowds would rock up on the day and purchase their ticket then but this year is different. I would encourage people to buy their tickets in advance and do so as quickly as possible. There has already been a lot of interest. The hospitality for December 27 and 28 are already gone and the other two days are selling really well too."

An attendance of 10,000 per day will be the biggest at Leopardstown since the 2020 Dublin Racing Festival. The last time crowds were allowed to attend the Christmas festival at the track was in 2019 when the smallest crowd was on the fourth and final day but even that was more than 10,000, as 10,791 attended.

Big-race entries for Leopardstown's meeting

There were 13,266 on December 26, 16,727 on December 27 and 16,251 on December 28.

Husbands added: "We will have a significant marquee in order to try and service people with a little bit of heat given the time of year. We have various other things planned for outdoors like a Christmas village and we hope to move people around the place to the best of our ability. The place will look great and I would hope everyone will have a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

"But the one message I would like to get out there is to purchase tickets as early as possible as I do expect all four days to sell out. If you are doing your Christmas shopping now then get your tickets to Leopardstown now as well. There are four days of top-class racing and I can't wait to see A Plus Tard coming back to defend his Savills Chase crown. That looks set to be the best race of the festival."
 
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