Does Ireland need a second all-weather track? If so, where should it be?

It is fast becoming the race nobody wants to win.

An evaluation committee set up by Horse Racing Ireland is due to come back with a preferred venue for a second all-weather track in Ireland by early October and their task has been simplified by Gowran Park and Naas withdrawing from the race, leaving Tipperary as the only existing track still interested. It is worth noting that Tipperary is the only HRI-owned venue in the mix.

There are six all-weather tracks in Britain, and seven in France. Ireland has only one. Dundalk opened in 2007 at a cost of €35 million and has been a success, despite the surface coming in for criticism from trainers and jockeys this year, and plans to resurface the track are at an advanced stage.