Irish Derby meeting restrictions hit overall attendance figures

The crowd restrictions at the Curragh for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby festival played their part in a drop in Irish racecourse attendance for the first half of the year.

Attendance fell by 3.8 per cent in that period, according to statistics published by Horse Racing Ireland.

The drop in attendances to 519,425 took place during the six-month period to the end of last month, in which there were two fewer fixtures compared to last year and despite a record attendance of 122,557 at the Punchestown festival.

The figures show increases in the number of runners in Flat and National Hunt races and an increase in field sizes. Another positive development contained is an increase of 14 per cent in newly formed syndicates.

Brian Kavanagh, CEO of HRI, said: “Syndicate numbers, an important source of business for trainers, suffered significant losses when the economic crisis hit and it is encouraging to see them up by 14 per cent.

Tote turnover up nine per cent

“With prize-money increasing by 8.4 per cent (sponsorship up 6.1 per cent), unsurprisingly, demand for bloodstock at public auction sales continued its upward trajectory since 2010, with sales up 17.7 per cent in the six-month period.”

Tote Ireland’s betting turnover was up by nine per cent in the first half of the year, while off-course turnover remained high, growing by 12.1 per cent, owing to continued increases in betting into Irish pools by international operators.

However, continuing the trend of recent years, the on-course turnover continues to decrease with both the Tote (-10.4%) and on-course bookmakers (-5.8%) reflecting the slight decline in attendances and changed betting habits.

Kavanagh said: “Overall, Tote betting continued its trend of double-digit growth in recent times. As well as rising turnover in traditional markets, particularly Britain, Irish pools have been boosted by growth in other international markets, most notably the US and Israel.

The redevelopment of the Curragh contributed to an overall 3.8 drop in attendance in the first half of the yearCredit: Patrick McCann

"From a product perspective, growth has been most notable in win betting, which has increased by 38 per cent, and also Pick 6 betting, which has increased by 205 per cent.

“The attendance at the Curragh for Dubai Duty Free Derby weekend obviously had an impact on on-course betting figures. However, it is clear that, regardless of attendances, on-course betting with both Tote and bookmakers remains under significant pressure.”

A number of significant developments occurred off the track during a period that was overshadowed by the challenges posed by Britain’s decision to leave the EU (Brexit).

The long-awaited demolition and redevelopment of the Curragh stands commenced in March, while the Department of Finance tax strategy group has initiated a formal review of betting duty in Ireland.

Kavanagh said: “Overall, it's encouraging to see the increases in the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund since 2014 are now having a positive impact on the ground. Horse Racing Ireland believes the fund can be fully financed from betting duty and has made a submission to the tax strategy group on this matter.

“Brexit poses huge challenges for our business, which is almost totally integrated with Britain.

"We are working jointly with our stakeholders and the Irish government as well as our British and French colleagues to ensure that our mutual concerns are fully taken into account during the Brexit negotiations.”