Irish Champions Weekend and Listowel festival closed to public in 2020

Ongoing uncertainty over when and to what extent restrictions on mass gatherings will be eased has prompted Horse Racing Ireland to announce that both Longines Irish Champions Weekend and the Listowel Harvest Festival will be closed to the public in September.

Following the Irish government’s decision to delay Phase 4 of the easing of Covid-19 lockdown measures until at least August, HRI’s plan to permit two owners per horse, and a handful of other racecourse nominees, to attend race meetings from last Monday was foiled.

The knock-on effect has now seen the authority intervene in relation to ICW (September 12 and 13) and Listowel (September 20 to 26), which had been circled by many as potential autumn targets for attendances of some form to return.

Given they are two of the best attended events in the calendar, with an aggregate 23,508 attending ICW in 2019 and 89,076 filing through Listowel’s gates during its seven-day gala, the news increases pressure on beleaguered tracks, with next week’s Galway festival also set to go ahead behind closed doors.

It is a further blow to the local economy in Kerry in particular, as the festival is estimated to be worth around €10 million to a rural community that depends heavily on the activity generated by such an established event.

“You need time to plan events like these – they aren’t things you can call at short notice. It’s disappointing but it’s where we are at the minute,” said Brian Kavanagh, HRI’s chief executive, of the decision to make an early call following a board meeting on Monday.

Irish Champions Weekend will be closed to the publicCredit: Patrick McCann

He added: “The commercial consequences are not good, for the racecourses and any business linked to them. It is difficult for everyone, but on balance we feel it is the prudent decision to take.

"We are working to develop protocols for people to come back to the track, but for events likes these there are a lot of advance ticket sales and accommodation bookings and so on, and it’s not good to have uncertainty around those sort of issues.

"It is very frustrating and disappointing, but the decision is to put the public health of the country first, and our ambition in resuming racing was to put it in a safe environment so that whatever happens down the line, racing can operate in a safe manner.”

The intention remains that, once the government proceeds with increasing the size of gatherings to 500 on August 10, the original plan to give owners precedence will kick in. However, Kavanagh suggested it will now be the middle of September at best before any paying racegoers are allowed access to an Irish racetrack.

“Realistically, it looks like that,” he said. “The issue is, what happens on August 10 – one doesn’t know. The expectation is you move from 200 to 500, which would allow owners to return, and they are the priority.

"The difficulty is one doesn’t know what will happen after that, will it be another three-week phase, will it be longer? You can’t plan ahead for these major race meetings at a week or two weeks’ notice."

Pat Healy, the racing photographer and chairman of Listowel Race Company, said of the development: “The health and safety of everyone is our number one priority and with crowd restrictions in place, it would be very difficult for us to run the festival.

“Making the announcement now gives all of our valued patrons notice, with regard to travel plans and accommodation bookings."

Read more

Magical could miss Enable clash to take in Tattersalls Gold Cup instead

Riding stalwart Niall McCullagh preparing for Galway return after leg fracture

Members can read the latest exclusive interviews, news analysis and comment available from 6pm daily on racingpost.com