VICKI Donlon is delighted to be heading the team at Leopardstown Racecourse, following her appointment as interim chief executive of the Dublin track.

Donlon was Leopardstown’s commercial manager from 2015 to 2021 and has led the commercial brief for all four Horse Racing Ireland-owned tracks for the past four years.

Following the recent retirement of Leopardstown CEO Tim Husbands, Donlon has now returned to Foxrock while the process of finding a permanent CEO continues.

“Someone said to me recently that this is the best job in racing,” Donlon told The Irish Field. “Leopardstown is of huge strategic importance to Irish racing.

“Thousands of people have their first experience of racing at Leopardstown each year and we have to ensure they have a good experience so that they will engage with the sport again when they have the opportunity.

“Just last week we had over 12,000 people here for the annual student raceday. It was a phenomenal success and we will be tracking those racegoers and enticing them to come back here.”

Dealing with commercial customers and maximising non-raceday revenue are important aspects of Donlon’s role but the racing product is her top priority. “We will be releasing details next week of the new Bulmers Series for the summer. This year we are aiming to create a mini-festival experience with pockets of entertainment throughout the site. All the artists will be Irish. There could be a trad band in one bar, a DJ in another, and some new cultural experiences too.

“Looking further ahead we are talking to our Japanese contacts again in the hope of attracting entries from Japan for the Irish Champion Stakes.”