Is there any hope for Ireland's on-course bookmakers?

Has the epicentre become an epitaph? The heart of Irish racecourses is not beating like it used to. On-course bookmaker betting fell by €4 million in 2016 to €75.9 million. It was €197.3 million in 2006. Turnover has tumbled by 61.5 per cent in the space of ten years.

It has just ticked past 1.27pm on Sunday, January 29. There are less than three minutes to go until the opening 2m maiden hurdle on BHP Insurance Irish Champion Hurdle day at Leopardstown. Melon, the biggest talking horse of the season, is finally about to do some of the talking himself. The electronic boards, which made blackboards and chalk redundant more than a decade ago, are in tandem – 4-9, 4-9, 4-9, 4-9, 4-9, 4-9, 4-9. Opinions, it appears, have been ousted by the birth of betting exchanges.

The small scatter of punters that have gathered in the ring, just over a hundred or so, do not seem tempted to tuck into Melon at such a short price, although Ray Mulvaney took a few quid. “I laid a couple of grand bets at 1-2 and 4-9,” he says. Brian Keenan was hit too. “I held about three grand in cash on the race. The main bet struck was €1,800 to win €800.” There are still bets being struck on track. Turnover for the day was €467,422, down from €487,678 in 2016. Only a four per cent decline, acceptable considering the attendance fell by 15 per cent to 6,443.