WHEN it comes to Irish Champions Weekend, Leopardstown seems to get the all the good fortune and we basked in sunshine for day one of Longines Irish Champions Weekend.
The rains attempted to spoil Sunday at the Curragh but, in the circumstances, the elements were always on the back foot.
There’s still work to be done on Leopardstown’s upgrading and building work, but you can see there will be a lot of great improvements, Ted Walsh on RTÉ’s coverage remarked as such. “Top class, it’ll be top of the world.”
The new Family Zone is still a bit rough and ready but you can see it being a good addition and it’s ideally placed where the old saddling boxes were. The big screen visible to all is an absolute necessity, especially when there are other meetings and sporting events on.
The RTÉ crew – Ted, Robert and Jane – are way up in the air today, the broadcasting team relocated on a high podium up above the Snow Fairy sculpture. The angle looks good though, on the TV broadcast, with the parade ring beneath them.
Two new rows of picnic tables have been added between the stands and the parade ring but they cluttered up the access a little and a few less might be a better fit.
English visitors are amused at the “Winner Alright” announcement to signal the results stands after an inquiry when “with us it is ‘weighed in’.” “Winner is alright?” they chuckle.
On TV, Ted wasn’t over-enthused by Mogul, who might have been the first ‘star’ on show.
“I wasn’t quite as over-awed by two of them as you were ... I’d be surprised if there’s not something better lying somewhere else. I wouldn’t be bucking and squealing, saying I saw a classic winner there. Maybe I’m getting auld fashioned but I saw Galileo absolutely destroy horses here.”
A day later came Pinatubo though, at the Curragh, and that brought forth the superlatives. Galileo (who sired six winners including three Group 1s over the two days) was trumped for once!
The Japanese visitors were very welcome and Leopardstown attempted to build the atmosphere on the international angle by distributing Irish, British and Japanese flags to the racegoers around the parade ring.
During the racing itself there is a new side-on low-down angle camera angle being used as the runners straighten up early in the straight. It got great praise on RTE, Jane Mangan describing it as “a great camera angle side-on at horse level, Robert concurred, “I love that camera angle”. But what is new is not necessarily better and, in the big race, it totally missed the build-up to the misfortune which befell Japanese challenger Deirdre, squeezed out as she tried to mount a challenge.
TV channels are too quick to look for new angles. It’s the same with a lot of the drone footage, up in the air shots, but often there is nothing wrong with most of the angles that we have.
Special day
The Curragh was not blessed with the weather but it was a special day and everything built up perfectly to the Champions Race and its memorable scenes. There was emotion, without it dominating the spirit and goodwill which were the foundations of the day.
It was summed up best perhaps on TV with that prolonged handshake from Brian Gleeson to Pat Smullen after their interview. No words, best wishes.
Pat Smullen accompanied by his children Paddy, Sarah and Hannah passes guard of honour before the Pat Smullen Champions Race For Cancer Trials Ireland \ Carolinenorris.ie
The ‘Champions’ were out and about all day, were they getting nervous? There was a good bit of slagging on the TV. Richard Hughes, A.P, Charlie Swan, all preparing for the comeback. Aussie trainer Ciaron Maher cut a distinctive figure among them.
Rachael Blackmore and Robyn Codd were busy selling the reusable coffee cups – they were a great idea – and there were plenty of offers of €50 notes with no change required.
There have been changes at the Curragh and it’s opened up much more to the public. The crowd was a nice mix of young and old, male and female. There was still a bit of a queue for snacks in the grandstand, given it was wet outside and there are still niggles to be addressed.
Pat Keogh spoke on TV of how the criticism had hurt the Curragh staff, but the racegoers require attention too. He is right in saying that all in racing want it to work.
The new stand, now that it’s opened up, is great but the lack of parade ring visibility was notable for the Champions Race with umbrellas obscuring an already poor view. It’s a long trek around to see the winners return, especially for big days like this. Ideally the parade ring should be turned around and the winner’s enclosure nearest the stands as it was in the ‘old’ Curragh. It’s the old cliché, a lot done, more to do.
Distributing flags at Leopardstown at LICW Saturday
ATTENDING the two meetings in consecutive days meant for good comparisons between the established Leopardstown facilities and the new structures at the Curragh. One major necessity is screens, screens and more screens. You could easily keep track of everything from Doncaster at Leopardstown.
At the Curragh, there were many UK visitors and most wanted to see the Prix Vermeille at ParisLongchamp. It was only shown on one small screen in the Paddy Power area, difficult to find if you were out and about.
LEOPARDSTOWN’s attendance figure was 13,433 this year, down on the 14,266 last year.
The National Hunt Dublin Racing Festival on the Saturday attracted 14,105 in 2018 and 12,544 this year but it certainly felt that there were more people there in February than on Saturday.
The Curragh pulled in 10,075, aided no doubt by the Champions Race, in comparison to 11,957 for Derby day, so there is work needed even if most people will admit there has been a move in the right direction.
On RTE, Curragh CEO Pat Keogh said we get too hung up on attendances but it’s a bit like saying ‘age is only a number’. You only say that when you are aware of it. And you do tend to lie about your age the older you get!
Billy Lee collecting on behalf of Cancer Trials \ Healy Racing
“This is going to be tactical cos they are all good.”
Two Curragh ladies assess the form for the Pat Smullen Champions race
THE switch of Irish racing to RacingTV has seemed to have been met with little approval from Irish viewers.
The extra cost, too much racing on one channel, with often just minor French action on the other, split-screens and little build-up or interviews are the general complaints.
Some busy days have been spoiled by delays at the UK meetings, Goodwood and Galway being the obvious example.
The broadcaster may not have taken into account that Irish people want to see racing on TV, not on phones and laptops, especially given how bad the broadband coverage is in rural Ireland.
But accusations of not taking Irish racing seriously are not always justified, nor is the “it was so much better on ATR” line valid. Last Saturday was a straight fight – four meetings each, each with a headline race.
Catching up with the coverage later, this was a win for RacingTV.
Both the two Champions Weekend days had a top team in action with Nick Luck on the spot for paddock interviews, the regular team in the parade ring, and Ruby Walsh as insightful as ever in his analysis.
Listowel got the short straw but, on Sky Sports Racing, Lingfield spilled over into the Leger and there were no post-Leger interviews for almost 20 minutes afterwards. Jamie Lynch’s analysis was the only saviour.
The frequency of ad breaks on Sky Sports Racing is incredibly annoying (“reaction after the break”). There’s really only so much you can take of ‘Arry and his “only gone and burnt Sandra’s crumpets.”
On Twitter
Colm White@Bellechose
Pat Keogh has achieved a lot in a very short space of time at the Curragh and the atmosphere today was a huge improvement on recent meetings, I sincerely hope people will rally behind our premier flat track and enjoy our great sport.
Simon Rainsford@redmansi
Speaking as a person with very limited knowledge of racing. The legends race at the @curraghrace was the best event in racing I’ve seen in a long long time... It was heartwarming and a real positive for all involved, particularly the legend that is Pat Smullen.. #hatsofftoall
Tony Mullins@tonymullins84
An amazing show of unity by professionals and fans alike at Curragh yesterday. @patjsmullen popularity had to be seen to be appreciated fully.
Pat Smullen@patjsmullen
Thanks to everyone who turned up in the rain yesterday to show your support, it meant so much.Some people made massive donations, pushing our total to an amount we couldn’t have dreamt of and others gave their €10’s and €50’s - THANK YOU ONE AND ALL!