Don’t miss the excitement of Laytown Races on the beach ...

LAYTOWN Races occupies a unique position in the Irish racing calendar as it is the only race event run on a beach under the Rules of Racing.

Many generations of people from the Meath area and the bordering counties have fond memories of their visit to the strand at Laytown and of the colour and the excitement of race day.

Laytown strand races have been in existence for one hundred and forty years. The first recorded meeting was in 1868 when races were run on the beach in conjunction with the Boyne Regatta. It is assumed that the rowing competition took place on the high tide and the racing when the tide receded. Initially the races were a side show to the regatta and were only organised when the combination of high and low tides allowed the racing on the beach at the conclusion of the rowing events.

Charles Stuart Parnell, the great Home Rule leader, was one of the first stewards of the strand races. In 1901 the local Parish Priest became involved in the organisation and despite the disapproval of the Bishop of Meath the races became a well organised event. In those days strand races were quiet common being run in places throughout Ireland such as Milltown Malbay in Co Clare and nearer home at Baltray and Termonfeckin. The racing continued throughout the years and in the nineteen fifties and sixties Laytown was considered an important meeting for horses preparing for the great Galway Festival. In those days there were no all weather surfaces for training horses and the sands at Laytown were considered ideal preparation for the Galway track.

The Laytown meeting was an important cultural event in the Meath calendar. Racing was run at distances between five furlongs and two miles with a U-shaped turn at Bettystown where the horses made a colourful sweeping return before heading back to the Laytown finish. The whole beach area was a profusion of colour with racegoers, bookies, fast food outlets, ice cream vendors, hurdy gurdies, roulette tables all sharing the strand. In the midst of all of these the tree and card-trick merchants appeared, disappeared and reappeared, constantly on the look-out for the gardai.

The organisation of Laytown Strand Races is a huge undertaking. The committee has a lease of a three acre field in Laytown known locally for generations as “the race field”. It is a wonderful elevated site above the beach and beside the finish line and racegoers have a fine view of the races from this natural vantage point.