THERE wasn’t much racing at Naas last Sunday but there was a hell of a party at the racecourse the night before.

Some 200 guests attended a blacktie dinner in the grandstand restaurant to celebrate 100 years of racing at the venue. There were numerous highlights during the evening, none more spectacular than the unveiling of the ‘Centenary Wall’.

Larger than life racing scenes from decades gone by now adorn the staircase walls in the grandstand. It really is an amazing sight which you must seek out on your next visit to the track.

Ruby Walsh was guest of honour and his comments on media rights and fixture lists are carried elsewhere in these pages. On a lighter note, Ruby told some great stories about his memories of Naas, including when he was a child running around the enclosures with his younger brother Ted and other local kids.

The youngsters heard that lost children were given sweets by the racecourse management while they waited to be collected by their parents. A plan was hatched and shortly afterwards, the tannoy announced “Would the parents of Ted Walsh please collect him from the secretary’s office?”

According to Ruby, Mr T.M. Walsh was not best pleased to be called from the weighroom and young Ted got more than he bargained for!

Ruby also told a cracking yarn from the 1970s he had been told by his grandfather and namesake. It involved a secret racecourse gallop at Naas which led to a betting coup in a Thurles bumper won by It’s Me Again, ridden by 7lb claimer Brendan Sheridan.

It was agreed that only the owner would back the winner just before the off and get the best price for everyone. But Ruby Snr didn’t trust the owner and had a nibble of 33/1 on his way to the grandstand.

The horse bolted in and everyone was thrilled, except for the owner who couldn’t understand how he only got 20/1. His name was Barney Curley and not many got one over on him!