Irish tracks confident of countering the heat with high temperatures forecast

As Ireland prepares for a week of very high temperatures, the tracks racing over the coming days are confident they will able to operate with no major concerns.

Temperatures are expected to be in the region of 28C and officials at Gowran Park, Leopardstown and Tramore are prepared for the week ahead.

Tramore’s traditional August festival gets under way on Thursday. Sunday looks likely to be the warmest day for the Waterford venue and the course has purchased a misting machine to be placed in the parade ring to ensure it remains cool throughout the afternoon, while additional water stations have been added in the stable yard.

General manager Owen Byrne said: “From a horse welfare point of view we have additional water tanks at the stable yard and in the parade ring. We also have a mister for the parade ring. When people come back after a race we’ll ensure it’ll be cool for what looks like a very warm weekend.

“It’s tough to produce fresh ground every day and water everything to make sure it’s right, but we’re quite happy with where we are. Our reservoir levels are good and we’re looking at the slow side of good for racing.”

Gowran Park is expected to reach temperatures in the region of 26C on Wednesday and has added water stations in the pull-up areas on the track if needed immediately after a race.

General manager Eddie Scally said: “The biggest thing for us is the pull-up areas. We have a lot more water stations situated on the track. There’ll be buckets at the beginning of the back straight where they are likely to finish up so they can wash down horses straight away if needed.

Gowran Park hosts an all Flat card on Wednesday eveningCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

“In the stable yard we used to have loose chippings, but we took those out also because it will become too dusty with the heat. We’ve swept it back to just tar now and we’ll water that on Wednesday morning so it’s not too warm.”

Leopardstown is not expecting it to be excessively hot for its card on Thursday and racing and operations manager Jane Hedley predicted it would be business as usual.

She said: "We’ve had some very hot days already and the procedures are already in place. We have numerous cooling stations situated around the place as well as countless water stations. We're watering daily and we’ve been managing to keep on top of that pretty well."

Niall Cronin of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board said all veterinary teams on duty would monitor the situation. He said: “From a veterinary point of view, the risk is relatively low as the horses have become used to this over the last number of weeks.

"It’s been mild and warm for quite some time now and the veterinary team would say the risk is quite low in terms of the horses themselves.

“The teams on track every day will monitor the humidity, the wind speed, temperatures etc, and will take action if necessary, but we don’t envisage any major concerns at this stage.”

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