June race meeting also a non- runner
THE fixtures problem are continuing this season for Sligo Races with the announcement that the third meeting in June has also been cancelled.
This follows both the April and May races also being called off by the Turf Club due to the extensive drainage works being carried out at the Cleveragh course which is not deemed ready yet for racing.
The news came on Wednesday last and the racecourse management has been coming under increased pressure as to whether any racing will take place at all this year.
Speaking to the Sligo Champion, Kathryn Foley, manager of Sligo Races, said that the July meeting will be going ahead.
She said that with the June meeting being cancelled, it was important that the public was aware as to why the racing had to be called off. Safety of both jockeys and horses is paramount and the Turf Club indicated that June 20th’s fixture could not go ahead.
The remedial drainage works are the biggest undertaken at the course and recent weather has not been helping growth.
There is a possibility that there could be more fixtures added next year, with racecoure management meeting shortly with representatives from Horse Racing Ireland to discuss next year’s racing fixtures.
The backlash on social media was critical of what exactly is happening and Kathryn said it was important people were informed as to what is occurring.
She said: “In response to losing a racing fixture in 2015 and 2016 the Board of Sligo Races was determined to do everything possible to avoid a recurrence and with this in mind embarked on significant drainage works on the track, which unfortunately suffered some delays and setbacks resulting in the majority of the works taking place during the winter months.
“The Turf Club’s Clerk of the Course, Lorcan Wyer, visited Sligo on February 27th to inspect the track as a pre- season exercise, and wasn’t satisfied with the rate of progress at this time.
“Furthermore, he recommended additional works to commence as soon as possible to try to remedy the situation.
“He inspected the track again in March with the Turf Club’s Inspector of Courses, Val O’Connell, to evaluate how the track was progressing. It was apparent that the opening fixture of Sligo’s 2017 season on April 30th was in grave doubt and the fixture was cancelled on March 20th.”
She explained that the Turf Club Licensing Committee visited the course on April 6th with the Clerk of the Course and the Head of Race Day Operations and with some remedial work yet to be completed it became apparent that the second Sligo fixture of May 22nd was also in doubt. “The majority of the remedial work suggested by the Clerk of the Course in February was completed in the weeks following the inspection, but a combination of the delay in finishing the works and the very cold, dry month of April resulted in the May 22nd fixture being cancelled,” Kathryn explained.
She added that on May 10th, Lorcan Wyer and Val O’Connell visited Sligo once more and reported that the track had shown a good deal of improvement since February and was heading in the right direction. “With only one scheduled meeting in June, it was agreed with Track Management that if this meeting was cancelled it would enable Sligo to carry out one final piece of remedial work, and allow the track almost 10 weeks to recover after all works had been completed. The fixture of June 20th was therefore cancelled on May 17th.”
In light of the cancellations, there have been questions about season tickets and it’s understood people with season tickets are being given extra tickets.
Kathryn said: “We regret that the drainage work undertaken has jeopardised racing so far this year and I would like to apologise to our loyal members and regular patrons for the loss of these early
season meetings. It is unfortunate given our investment in the track this year and in customer facilities over the last number of years. However, I can reassure everybody that these works were essential and will be for the long term benefit of racing at Sligo. While, the loss of revenue for the first three meetings in Sligo is a blow, we are still in a very strong financial position and very viable as a race track.
“The best and most important news of all is the track is being constantly monitored and has made great progress and we are extremely optimistic about racing again in Sligo on July 16th.”
She said that there are hopes additional fixtures could be added next year to the Sligo calendar, depending on an upcoming meeting with Horse Racing Ireland.
WE REGRET THE DRAINAGE WORK UNDERTAKEN HAS JEOPARDISED RACING. THESE WORKS WERE ESSENTIAL AND WILL BE OF LONG- TERM BENEFIT