AVOIDING any clash with Irish Champions Weekend was good news in 2020 for the Listowel Races organisers, and then their plans for the annual Harvest Festival were impacted by the current Covid-19 pandemic. This week, ahead of the Kerry venue’s seven-day race meeting, I caught up with the racecourse’s secretary/manager Brenda Daly and the committee’s chairman Pat Healy.

What hopes did you have for crowds at the upcoming meeting? “Before racing resumed on June 8th we had an initial visit from HRI and the IHRB to look at how Listowel could adapt to the protocols involved in racing behind closed doors. We were hopeful at that stage that after our three-day June meeting was cancelled, we would be able to race in September. At that stage we felt that by the time September came around there would be a reduction in Covid-19 cases and limited numbers might be able to attend, even up to 5,000 people.