WHAT a great crowd to see out the last of the Bulmers Live evenings at Leopardstown for the summer as 11,137 people thronged the course to enjoy the racing followed by music by The Waterboys last Thursday week.

And as Vicki Donlon, the indefatigable marketing, sponsorship and events manager, told The Irish Field: “On Monday I start to plan for next year’s music events and see who we can get for the line-up.”

The aim of adding a music or entertainment to any raceday is to introduce a new audience to racing and the spend per head figures bear that out, as people were there for the whole evening enjoying the racing and having a bite to eat.

Next festival at the track is day one of the Longines Irish Champions Weekend and, as with the the Dublin Racing Festival, Leopardstown wants to attract a significantly younger audience so multiple entertainment as well as such superb horses as Alpha Centauri and Roaring Lion will be the draw.

On Saturday, September 15th, broadcaster Doireann Garrihy will spin the decks and cracking band The Riptide Movement from Lucan will perform their hits.