STRONG advance ticket sales point to another bumper three-day meeting at this weekend’s Fairyhouse Easter Festival, with racecourse manager Peter Roe adamant the “local buzz” is in full flow around the track’s annual highlight.

There were colourful scenes ahead of last year’s BoyleSports Irish Grand National as enthusiastic racegoers sang ‘Ole Ole Ole’ and ‘Hey Baby’ while runners lined up at the start, with trainer Tony Mullins suggesting it was one of the best atmospheres he had ever witnessed on an Irish racecourse.

Fairyhouse’s first Irish Grand National in front of an unrestricted crowd since 2019 yielded the track’s biggest attendance in at least a decade of 15,097.

The historic €500,000 prize often manages to stay in Co Meath, and Roe believes popular wins for local trainer Dermot McLoughlin in recent years - with 150/1 shot Freewheelin Dylan and 40/1 outsider Lord Lariat - have captured the imagination of those in the area. Last year’s winner Lord Lariat will be back to defend his Fairyhouse title on Easter Monday.

“Our sales have gone very well and hospitality has also been strong, so it has all unfolded the way we want it,” said Roe.

“It’s all down to the hard work of a great team behind us. They really make it happen each and every year. It looks like everything is in place for a great weekend. We just need the weather to give us a chance.”

Meath magic

On the Easter Festival build-up, Roe added: “You can feel there’s a great local buzz around the place in the lead-up to the weekend. That’s something we always aspire to do. This is Co Meath’s race, and you can feel the impact of Dermot McLoughlin’s win in the race over the last two years in terms of the locality. Everyone got such a kick out of that.

“I think people sometimes forget the impact that Meath has had on the Irish Grand National, with success for so many people nearby down the years. It really is a race that is heavily rooted in this end of the country and there’s something special about the whole occasion.”

The prospect of rain in the coming days could help add British interest to the feature event as mud-loving stayer Royale Pagaille remains in the mix for trainer Venetia Williams, set to carry top-weight if taking his chance.

In a change from recent times, declarations for the Irish Grand National, which goes to post at 5.00pm on Monday, will be published shortly after 10.00am on Saturday (previously Friday morning). The final field will be set at 10.00am on Sunday when the window for reserves to run in the race closes.

Visiting challenge

“The track is in good shape and we’ve got some great entries,” said Roe.

“We’ve been following a changing forecast. It goes from being mainly dry to the chance of some showers on Sunday and Monday. We’re happy with where the track is, though. I just hope the man above smiles on us from a weather point of view.

“Hopefully Royale Pagaille will travel over to contest the big one for Venetia Williams. We’re always happy to see overseas runners coming over and fingers crossed we should be set for some cracking racing.

“In the same Susannah Ricci silks, it would also be fantastic to see Monkfish make his return in the Grade 2 Rathbarry & Glenview Studs Hurdle on Monday for Willie Mullins.

“He’s a very popular horse who we’d all be looking forward to seeing too.”

As well as staging high-quality action on the course, the Fairyhouse team have devised an extensive plan for various off-track attractions this year. Live music and street performers are scheduled for each of the three days, as well as Winning Line raceday previews. Cartoonist Darren Bird will be showcasing his talents throughout Sunday’s card.

‘Pre Loved’ is the theme of Monday’s Most Stylish Competition, which will be judged by Marietta Doran, and Easter Sunday’s meeting features the La Bucca Easter Bonnet competition, an opportunity for kids to show their creative side by making colourful bonnet hats.

Saturday’s action gets underway at 2.10pm, Sunday’s card kicks off at 1.25pm and Monday’s Irish Grand National meeting begins at 2.05pm.