Racing fears allayed
Change of strategy leads to meeting switch
THERE WAS some surprise and concern among the local racing fraternity when Horse Racing Ireland appeared to drop Wexford’s Bettyville meeting, scheduled for Friday evening, July 3, from the confirmed July calendar – the only course in Ireland to be omitted from the original programme published earlier in the year.
The Wexford track staged one of the last pre-lockdown meetings without spectators and with the minimum of personnel on St. Patrick’s Day, and it went off pretty smoothly though it was certainly a novel and unusual occasion.
Since then six meetings have now been lost or altered: April 3, May 16 and 22, June 3 and 17, and now July 3.
Eighteen jumps meetings have been confirmed for July at twelve venues all over the country, but Wexford was conspicuous as the only absentee, as pointed out by ‘The Racing Post’.
However, it now transpires that the change has been made at the request of the Wexford management and in conjunction with Horse Racing Ireland.
I asked Horse Racing Ireland for some explanation on Wexford’s omission and was told:
‘Wexford requested that their meeting be rescheduled later in the year so that they can have a more concentrated sequence of fixtures, rather than [five meetings] being spaced out from early July to late October, so as to maximise operational efficiencies and to reduce the amount of track preparation and watering required.’
Michael Murphy, Chairman and managing director of the Bettyville course, agreed with this. He stressed that the July 3 meeting had not been lost but would be rescheduled.
The idea is to possibly run two meetings within three days when track preparation will cover both sessions, instead of having to redo all the work again if there is a long interval between meetings.
It also provides time between meetings for the deep-clean of all facilities at the track demanded by the rigorous protocols that have been put in place to allow racing to return.
Matters will become clearer and arrangements will be confirmed when the schedule of meetings is published for August, September and October.
Horse racing in Ireland has been given the green light to resume on the flat from June 8, behind closed doors and under those very strict protocols, extending to 70 pages, three weeks ahead of the previously published schedule. Jumps racing will re-start on June 22 at Limerick.
Wexford could ill-afford any more cancelled meetings. Almost half the annual programme has been lost and this represents a substantial drop in revenue from commercial sponsorship and especially funding from TV coverage.
While some of the hospitality conditions at Bettyville are on the Spartan side, a great deal of money has been spent over the years on the development of the track itself, and on backroom facilities in the stable yard, under the guidance of Michael Murphy who became general manager in 1989 and is currently chairman of the Board.
When Ivan Yates was Minister for Agriculutre in the 1990s, he was definitely a friend of Bettyville, and he presided at the opening of the refurbished main stand in 1996 and the Ivy Room bar and restaurant overlooking the track and the parade ring in 1998.
More recently the track was lengthened to one mile four furlongs, it was widened, and the severity of the bends was considerably eased.
The biggest change came in 2015 when the direction of racing was changed to left-handed, providing a stiff uphill finish in front of the stands, making it into a true stamina test. Significantly, it became a National Hunt only venue, one of just four in the country.
Top jockey Ruby Walsh gave his verdict: ‘The change from a right-handed to a left-handed course has made this a much better venue for jumps racing. It has definitely benefited from being changed in direction and has turned into a stayers’ track, having previously been something of a speed track.’
It has certainly attracted the support of all the leading trainers since the work was completed, and the quality of racing has improved.
Major work has been done on the reservoir facilities in the past couple of years, in conjunction with Wexford County Council. This will provide plenty of supplies for course watering and also provide a release-valve for some houses nearby that can be subject to occasional flooding problems.
There is much still to do, especially for the comfort of patrons. The entrance and turnstile area, and the buildings down along the road wall housing bars, catering and offices, could certainly do with an upgrade.
There will be relief among all Wexford racing people that the future of the Bettyville facility is still secure despite all the difficulties created by the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic.