STAFF at Leopardstown are battling against nature to provide “the best and safest ground possible” for the Dublin Racing Festival next weekend.

Yesterday the ground was described as “yielding, good to yielding in places” on the chase course, and good to yielding on the hurdles track. With little or no rain forecast, watering is ongoing.

Leopardstown CEO Tim Husbands said: “We will continue to water heavily in the lead-up to next weekend, with the aim of providing the best and safest ground possible. We don’t want to disappoint anyone. Like in any sport, you want to provide the best pitch for the players, to get the best performances. You want ground with a good bit of cut in it.”

Husbands said that Leopardstown is working with sports turf consultants to help them deliver optimum conditions and he also pointed to the recent appointment of Jane Hedley as Racing and Operations Manager. “Even though Jane has only been here a few weeks, she brings vast experience from her time as clerk of the course at Nottingham and Warwick. That experience is already being brought to bear, so you can see that we are investing both in the track and in human resources in order to provide the best ground.”

‘Dry January’ is not just a Leopardstown problem. The going is good today at Cheltenham, where five of the eight races have eight runners or fewer. “It would be unusual to have such ground, so I’m sure it’s had some influence [on the number of runners],” clerk of the course Jon Pullin said. “We’ve had a very favourable winter as far as the weather has been concerned and there have not been the number of abandonments we’d normally see, particularly during January, so horses have had plenty of options. That’s another factor.”

Returning to Leopardstown, advance ticket sales have been buoyant this week. Approximately 5,000 tickets had already been sold before Christmas but last Friday’s announcement by the Government that there were no longer restrictions on attendance at sporting events allowed Leopardstown to put more tickets on the market.

Husbands reported: “We went back on sale last Friday night and sales are going very well. I think we will see a big crowd on the Saturday – despite the clash with the Ireland-Wales rugby match – and perhaps a bit smaller on the Sunday. That’s how it has been historically.

“We would advise racegoers to buy their tickets in advance so as to avoid having to queue outside and gain quicker access to the enclosure.”