IN PETER’S PUB near Dublin city centre on Friday evening, we went back to the future.
The proprietor, Enda, is a brother of Pat Keogh, so long the face of Leopardstown Racecourse. Enda wasn’t long breaking into discussing the Dublin Racing Festival – if you could hear him defy the Welsh din.
The place teemed with visitors for the rugby. I returned to my table of two to find it had been taken over by a pair of Welsh couples. They had no tickets for the game but they didn’t care. What struck me was how hard it was to converse with strangers two years after our worlds were turned upside down.
They weren’t crossing the Irish Sea for rugby merely: after the shit-show that was the late refusal to let racegoers into Leopardstown over Christmas, crowds were back for the Dublin Racing Festival. Lloyd Iveson was one such visitor.
One of the owners of Kemboy, he couldn’t get over the roar that greeted the start of the opening Novice Hurdle today. One rarely hears this at an Irish meet.
“I came at Christmas to watch Kemboy in the Savills Chase”, he said, “and it what so weird: no friends allowed with me, the stands were empty and a handful of bookies.
“It was fantastic to have the crowds back this weekend. I’ve never known it as busy!”
The problem was Leopardstown, too, didn’t seem to know it would be so busy. Racegoers were barred at Christmas because of a Covid-induced staff shortage; it wasn’t clear where the blame lay yesterday.
We can in no way take as canon that, after two years of so few attending racing more than once if at all, the crowds will return; and the more casual patron who sought value for their €35 today may have had second thoughts.
One mate, who falls into that surprisingly large bracket of serious gamblers who hardly ever goes racing, barely got through half of the card before going home. “The queues for food and drink were far too long,” he complained.
Another mate said it was “ridiculously bad. It’s pointless even trying to get a drink: 40 minutes’ wait, minimum. They need about six more bars.”
They had eight races, the quality enough to keep everyone who likes racing interested, but the problem with inviting people racing is that it is unique in that so little of the day is spent actually watching the sport. If you feel American Football is stop-start, how do you entice people to this, which consists of the event for a few minutes and seven half-hour intervals?
Leopardstown may argue that Dublin is riddled with staff shortages right now. Not everyone went there to have a beer yesterday but we all get hungry and not everyone will be rushing back.
Jockeys frequently go hungry and sacrifice a lot more besides, including Davy Russell. Why is he still doing this? Given he was any number to 11 months out with a neck injury and turns 44 this year, I felt that, with a big, young family, he was mad not to call it a day last year.
His ride on Galvin at Christmas was up there with the best he ever game a steed and, over the same course and trip, he took the big one here on the left-field Conflated, who has suddenly become a lively candidate for the Gold Cup.
I spoke to Russell on Thursday and, given he tends to talk down the more obviously credentialled horses that he rides, I was taken aback by how hopeful he was for Conflated, who was 40-1 on Friday night.
“I’m very surprised but Camilla (Sharples, travelling head girl) warned me every step we took when I got on his back. She said, ‘I’m keeping the faith, this fellow is going to run a big race.’ That gave me confidence going out.
“He jumped super and did everything really, really well. He jumped straight as a die; he can hang a bit but nothing today.”
Gordon Elliott trains Galvin. Gordon Elliott trains Conflated. By this time last year, Gordon Elliott had already been the subject of a photo that would tear his world apart. His resurgence has shown that if you augment genius with a thirst for vengeance, the potion is more potent than the strongest drink you might have eventually been served in Leopardstown today.
Henry de Bromhead will have been thrilled with Minella Indo’s return to form in the race and, while he drew a blank and Willie Mullins dominated the card otherwise, the other member of Ireland’s big three would have taken this outcome this morning. Mullins, meanwhile, had a stunning four-timer, three of them in Grade 1s and the other in a Grade 2.
Minella Cocooner was given the archetype Danny Mullins steer in the opening heat for staying novice hurdlers; Vauban was quite superb in the juvenile hurdle for Paul Townend, whose patience on Blue Lord was rewarded in the novice chase.
But the biggest wow factor was left for last as Facile Vega lived up to his name.
He is scarcely an affront to his pedigree: his mammy, Quevega, was ridiculously good. His daddy, Walk In The Park, is siring horses that are making racing look like exactly that.
Patrick Mullins said: “That was pretty ‘wow!’”
His dad added: “He showed one day last year that he was good but he got sore after it and I just put him away for this year.
“I just didn’t want to work him and I’d say that’s the fastest he’s gone all year. Today was the day to find out whether he was as good as I hoped he could be.”
We’ll drink to that. Soon.
