THERE is a reply often uttered in rural lands when asked how things are going. When they may not be so great, but you know there is no point complaining. “Ah sure, keeping the good side out,” goes the reply.

It feels like an appropriate one on the racing scene at the moment. And it is never more important that we show a good side.

You don’t really want to be complaining when the sport has government backing, and when so many more sports are appealing on the airwaves for more funding and support, on the back of a feel-good Olympics. But there’s no point in camouflaging things either.

So, to that good side of last weekend. Irish racing got over six hours of prime-time TV. And on the track, the racing was excellent. Top class horses travelled, we had support from Bahrain and Japan, and a nice division of jockeys and trainers winning. A good quality overseas challenge added flavour.

The two big races on Saturday lived up to expectations, but Leopardstown’s on-course offering sagged visibly and there were no hiding places in the comments afterwards.

Where was the audience? Flat racing is less attractive, but Ballinrobe’s moderate jumps card on Friday and Laytown’s much lower on the scale flat card on Monday, had full houses.

Why would people not travel to the capital and our main track to see excellent racing? Was enough done to promote and entice people?

Was it a ‘built it and they will come’, laissez-faire mood? It’s Champions Weekend, (Festival!) and it has been a success, so leave it be? Was Leopardstown resting on the laurels of the popularity of the two big jumps meetings? What could be done to attract more people, engage a wider audience, because they did come in the early years?

Busy summer

It’s been a busy summer of expensive concerts, very many sold-out shows. Add in the GAA season and are people feeling the pinch? If you were offered free tickets to bring a friend to the golf or the racing last weekend, which would be more popular?

Doncaster didn’t have half of the quality, but got well over twice the crowd, (accepting that Leopardstown had over 10,000).

You want those there to say, that was enjoyable, I’ll come again. But there was very little to engage anyone with half an interest, around the track.

Though there was criticism of HRI’s use of paid social media ‘influencers’ in recent years, is this not now a vital promotional element of a ‘Festival’?

Were there any ‘celebrities’, even at an Irish level of celebrity, there? Is that not a must-have at sporting events?

Bookmaker Brian Keenan’s blog noted: The lack of atmosphere is the talking point of the day among bookmakers and racegoers. Races 6 to 9 dragged on like a bad wedding. 35 minutes apart, and the limited crowd that were here had waved the white flag.

The big race was a brilliant spectacle. The general public had no interest. It’s a sad state of affairs. I saw the published attendance figures. They must have counted everyone twice.To fix the problem, those in charge have to acknowledge that there is a problem in the first place.

The Dublin Racing Festival boasted increased attendances, but people have short memories and, between the Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Dublin Chase and the two novice chases, we had a total of 21 runners, and average of 4.2. Not really a selling point, you would have thought. But it brought the crowds.

Vincent Finegan’s Irish Racing blog noted: Comparing this year’s Dublin Racing Festival betting markets to the Irish Champions Festival it is interesting that there were eight odds-on chances across the 15 races of the jumping equivalent in February, as opposed to just five odds-on chances out of the 17 races last weekend.

Another commentator on the day commented: Good racing. No buzz. At all. You couldn’t have asked for better with weather and racing. Curragh felt better than Leopardstown for the first time though the lesser numbers (officially). But it felt like there were people there.

The answers may not be easy, but you do think there is scope to improve on how last weekend was delivered. Let’s hope racing is not relying on the few popular days to keep its good side out.

IT’s unusual to hear widespread approval for the removal of a Grade 1 race, as has been the case with the news that the Turners Novice Chase is being dropped from the Cheltenham Festival. It is a positive move to address the small field Grade 1s for the novice chasers, though the National Hunt Chase also needs a revamp.

The Turners had more popular appeal as a Grade 2 when Noble Prince and Bennefficient won for Nolan and Martin. While Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champ would have been an easy winner three years ago, apart from the ill-fated Vautour, it has not really produced a star to go forward.

Shattered Love, Defi Du Seuil, Samcro and Chantry House were among its recent winners and, as Paul Nicholls said on the Nick Luck podcast, his 2023 winner Stage Star won the Paddy Power Gold Cup off top-weight, so would still be in the mix in a two-and-a-half-mile handicap at the Festival. Gold Cup winner A Plus Tard won the old Close Brothers Novices’ Handicap Chase when it was a listed handicap. The novices do not really need an intermediate distance race, they never did before. Gold Cup winners like Kicking King progressed from the Arkle. I do hope, however, the Ryanair remains as it is, as I never accepted the negativity towards it. Horses can and do go from the novice race to the Champion Chase and Gold Cup. The Ryanair serves a purpose in allowing still high class and popular chasers, who have run in the Champion Chase, but lose a touch of speed as they get older, as well as those who have tried the Gold Cup but fail to stay, a chance of a popular success.

I hope with the changing times and fewer horses coming off the flat to go hurdling that they remove one of the worst races on the Festival card. Who has backed the winner of the Fred Winter? What has a Fred Winter winner ever gone on to achieve? Very little is the answer. Would anyone really miss it?