Curragh trainers' Royal Ascot plans seriously disrupted as travellers' site forces closure of key gallop

A large group from the travelling community has set up a campsite on the Curragh, forcing a major gallop to be closed, and Group 1-winning trainer Willie McCreery has said it is only a matter of time before someone gets injured.

The Curragh training grounds have had similar problems in the past, but the gallop closure has forced trainers to change their daily routine on the cusp of Royal Ascot. 

Not only has McCreery been forced to alter his schedule but the trainer fears for the safety of his staff, with young children and dogs coming into close contact with the horses. 

"It's an absolute disaster," McCreery said on Monday morning. "A very good gallop, a six-furlong gallop, that we always do our fast work on and various canters, is closed. And at the moment the situation is getting worse because kids from the campsite are out playing, they have dogs with them and the dogs are running after the horses and it's only a matter of time before somebody gets a fall and gets badly injured."

The trainer added: "We pay our Curragh fees and we pay those fees to use a Curragh gallop and that gallop is closed at the moment, so should the owners get a reduction on their Curragh fees? We shouldn't be paying for something we cannot use."

Willie McCreery: "We shouldn't be paying for something we cannot use"Credit: Patrick McCann

John O'Donoghue, who took over John Oxx's Currabeg yard in 2022, has said the problem has become a recurring one on the Curragh. 

He said: "A camp of about 50 or 60 caravans has set up at the top of the Little Curragh gallop. The gallop is now closed and has been since last week for health and safety reasons. You would essentially be pulling up the horses in the middle of the campsite so it's not safe. Nothing is being done about it and we're banging our head against a brick wall. It's all a bit of a mess."

He added: "Just before the opening meeting at the Curragh in March, we had a group there for two weeks and it just keeps happening. We had them camped out in plain view for basically the whole summer last year and it's happened again this year. 

"It's the week before Royal Ascot and I'm pulling my hair out, having to change the routine of my horses at the last minute. We have to avoid the straight gallop on Little Curragh. About 90 per cent of my day is on that straight gallop and it's closed. 

"They arrived in the middle of the fixture at the Curragh last Wednesday evening. Since I've started training in Mr Oxx's place, it's happened every single year. So this is the fourth year of it now. It's the same people coming back to the same place. It's so frustrating, we're being told it's being taken care of by the government, but it's not and it's going on far too long."

Other trainers who are based on that side of the Curragh include Ken Condon, Danny Murphy and Conor O'Dwyer. 

The area in which the caravans are located is owned by the Department of the Defence with the Curragh only licensed to operate gallops on it, which makes it harder to get the travellers to leave. 

Curragh chief executive Brian Kavanagh said: "We're putting maximum pressure on the Department of the Defence to do something and, in fairness, they have been proactive on this issue so far this year. It's very, very difficult for trainers to operate over there at the moment and something needs to be done quickly.  

"We've had no choice but to close that gallop and it's a gallop we have spent money on recently so it's very frustrating."

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