THE Fairyhouse Winter Festival takes place on Saturday and Sunday, December 2nd and 3rd. This week we caught up with Peter Roe, manager of the County Meath venue to get all the details for what promises to be a cracking weekend of racing.

On day one of the Fairyhouse Winter Festival racing is set to go to post at 11:30am, the highlight being the Grade B EasyFix Handicap Chase worth €50,000. The eight-race card is set to draw some interesting racing.

The Grade 3 Willow Warm Hurdle being an informative race with some of the top four-year-olds from last season making their seasonal debut. Last year, Facile Vega won the Fingal Ravens Raceday Maiden before going on to win two Grade 1 Novice Hurdles at Leopardstown and Punchestown. The track is also delighted to welcome Fingal Ravens GAA back again this year and wishes them well with their fundraising efforts.

Exciting

Day two is shaping up to be just as exciting and a raceday not to be missed as Cheltenham Festival winners Impaire Et Passe and Sire Du Berlais, State Man and last year’s winner Teahupoo head the 15 entries for the Grade 1 Bar One Racing Hatton’s Grace Hurdle. While a total of 18 entries have been made for the Grade 1 Bar One Racing Drinmore Novice Chase, Gordon Elliott dominates with a team of nine including course winner Imagine and Favori De Champdou. We are also sending best wishes to Meath GAA as they will attending the festival on Sunday with 1,000 in attendance for their annual fundraising event.

Peter Roe, general manager of Fairyhouse Racecourse, said: “I am delighted with the strength and depth of entries for our three Grade 1 races on Bar One Hatton’s Grace Day. It is great to see such a wide spectrum of jumping stars entered. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our sponsors across the weekend, it certainly is a weekend not to be missed and it is already creating quite a buzz.”

The Irish Racing Yearbook will be on the look out for the best performance of the weekend with judge Daragh Ó Conchúir keeping his eyes peeled across all areas from jockeys to stable staff and trainers, anyone at the track that displays the best performance will be considered. The lucky winner who helps make the weekend a success by providing an outstanding performance will receive a voucher to the fabulous Killashee House Hotel.

The Bulmers Bundle will set you up with everything you need for a great day’s racing. The popular package includes admission, racecard, Tote bet, burger and pint of Bulmers, Budweiser or a soft drink. This package is available to book online at €45pp.

Also available is the Festive Disco Brunch offering patrons a festive punch on arrival, admission, racecard, buffet brunch, live DJ and a Christmas jumper competition offering great prizes all hosted in a private room with shared tables of 10 and access to the grandstand. This is available to book online priced at €65pp.

In addition to top quality racing, live music and entertainment is scheduled throughout the weekend during and after racing in the festival marquee.

Gates open at 10am each day and patrons are encouraged to come along early and soak up the festive atmosphere. It also couldn’t be easier to come racing with a free shuttle service to the track from the M3 parkway or a direct coach service from Dublin which you can book online at marathongroup.ie.

The Association of Irish Racecourses wishes Peter and the team at Fairyhouse the best of luck with their festival. For further information and to book tickets visit www.fairyhouse.ie.