K
Kathy
Guest
No more to be a racecourse but perhaps a state of the art leisure facility instead? shrug::
Courtesy of The Racing Post
Tralee facing closure after vote to sell off racecourse
by Paul Eacott and Turia Tellwright
LAST week's Tralee festival could have been the final meeting staged at the County Kerry course after officials issued a shock statement on Friday night saying that they had voted to sell the racecourse for redevelopment.
An EGM of the shareholders of Ballybeggan Park Race Company Ltd, the owners of the course, was held in the town's Brandon Hotel on Thursday night, with more than 80 per cent of the directors voting in favour of selling to developers Seamus O'Halloran and John J. Casey.
Although the vote went 4-1 in favour of the sale, the directors at Tralee said they found it “a very difficult decision”, but claimed their hands were effectively tied as racing at Ballybeggan Park was no longer economically viable, or sustainable, due to considerable on-going financial losses.
The statement read: “Over the past five years, the directors of the company have explored, and exhausted, many options with the view of retaining and developing racing at Ballybeggan Park.
“The resolution put to the EGM on Thursday night was, according to expert independent advice, the best option available to shareholders of Ballybeggan Park. In addition, the proposed plan from the consortium of developers to create a state-of-the art leisure facility at Ballybeggan, was attractive to shareholders, as it is believed this development will enhance the social, sporting and cultural life of Tralee town, and its environs, going into the future.
“The board of directors and shareholders of Ballybeggan Park Company would like to acknowledge, and sincerely thank, our valued sponsors, employees, owners and trainers, the Racegoers Club, all other friends and supporters, and of course, every patron of Ballybeggan Park since 1944.”
Although star performers from both codes such as Alexandrova, Dawn Run, Vintage Crop and Vintage Tipple have all won at Tralee, the track has fallen on hard times over recent years and only survived plans for a possible redevelopment at the last minute in September 2003.
Reacting to news of the closure, Jim Kavanagh, chief executive of the Irish Racehorse Trainers' Association said: "Obviously we're very sorry to see Tralee go.
“It is a very good track and there have been a number of good horses that have won there in the past. It is a track steeped in tradition and we will be very sorry to see it go. It is a sad loss to Irish racing.”
With the highest daily attendance figure year on year falling by 52 per cent from 2005 to 2006, trainer Jim Bolger sponsored the gate receipts for one of the five days of last week's festival in order to encourage a bigger attendance.
The news caught the Classic-winning trainer by surprise last night. He said: “I'd be happy with the closure as long as they were going to reinvest in a new track. At the moment I don't know anything more and so wouldn't be able to comment any further.”
Brian Kavanagh, chief executive of HRI, was sad to hear of the director's decision and said that discussions would now take place over where Tralee's fixtures for 2008 will take place.
He said: “It is always a sad occasion when it is announced that a racecourse is to close, but we recognise the difficult position the Tralee shareholders have been in for the past few years.
“We will have to sit down with epresentatives from the track to discuss what implications their decision will have for the 2008 fixture list and the dates Tralee applied for, and were granted, when the list was finalised last month.”
Courtesy of The Racing Post
Tralee facing closure after vote to sell off racecourse
by Paul Eacott and Turia Tellwright
LAST week's Tralee festival could have been the final meeting staged at the County Kerry course after officials issued a shock statement on Friday night saying that they had voted to sell the racecourse for redevelopment.
An EGM of the shareholders of Ballybeggan Park Race Company Ltd, the owners of the course, was held in the town's Brandon Hotel on Thursday night, with more than 80 per cent of the directors voting in favour of selling to developers Seamus O'Halloran and John J. Casey.
Although the vote went 4-1 in favour of the sale, the directors at Tralee said they found it “a very difficult decision”, but claimed their hands were effectively tied as racing at Ballybeggan Park was no longer economically viable, or sustainable, due to considerable on-going financial losses.
The statement read: “Over the past five years, the directors of the company have explored, and exhausted, many options with the view of retaining and developing racing at Ballybeggan Park.
“The resolution put to the EGM on Thursday night was, according to expert independent advice, the best option available to shareholders of Ballybeggan Park. In addition, the proposed plan from the consortium of developers to create a state-of-the art leisure facility at Ballybeggan, was attractive to shareholders, as it is believed this development will enhance the social, sporting and cultural life of Tralee town, and its environs, going into the future.
“The board of directors and shareholders of Ballybeggan Park Company would like to acknowledge, and sincerely thank, our valued sponsors, employees, owners and trainers, the Racegoers Club, all other friends and supporters, and of course, every patron of Ballybeggan Park since 1944.”
Although star performers from both codes such as Alexandrova, Dawn Run, Vintage Crop and Vintage Tipple have all won at Tralee, the track has fallen on hard times over recent years and only survived plans for a possible redevelopment at the last minute in September 2003.
Reacting to news of the closure, Jim Kavanagh, chief executive of the Irish Racehorse Trainers' Association said: "Obviously we're very sorry to see Tralee go.
“It is a very good track and there have been a number of good horses that have won there in the past. It is a track steeped in tradition and we will be very sorry to see it go. It is a sad loss to Irish racing.”
With the highest daily attendance figure year on year falling by 52 per cent from 2005 to 2006, trainer Jim Bolger sponsored the gate receipts for one of the five days of last week's festival in order to encourage a bigger attendance.
The news caught the Classic-winning trainer by surprise last night. He said: “I'd be happy with the closure as long as they were going to reinvest in a new track. At the moment I don't know anything more and so wouldn't be able to comment any further.”
Brian Kavanagh, chief executive of HRI, was sad to hear of the director's decision and said that discussions would now take place over where Tralee's fixtures for 2008 will take place.
He said: “It is always a sad occasion when it is announced that a racecourse is to close, but we recognise the difficult position the Tralee shareholders have been in for the past few years.
“We will have to sit down with epresentatives from the track to discuss what implications their decision will have for the 2008 fixture list and the dates Tralee applied for, and were granted, when the list was finalised last month.”