Kilbeggan - racing behind closed doors

Bob Dylan’s lyrics, ‘How does it feel? To be without a home, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone’ ring out over the tinny speaker system at Kilbeggan Races.

“Fitting words”, I think, as I look around at the empty stands, parade ring and grounds of Kilbeggan Racecourse last Friday evening, normally a hub of activity in summer.

This, however, is racing behind closed doors, and apart from jockeys, grooms and trainers, the place is empty except for Horse Racing Ireland officials.

Horse racing is a €1.8bn industry, employing 29,000 people directly and indirectly, so it’s important that racecourses like Kilbeggan keep running.

With the first race is under way and having had my temperature taken and identification checked on entry, I now sport a blue wristband that admits me for the evening, in a bid to get an insight into how the industry is surviving under Covid restrictions. Without the wristband, I would be given short shrift and no doubt ejected from the grounds where I’ve spent many a happy evening in the past.

Protocols are strictly followed here, and as I go about chatting to managing director Paddy Dunican, trainer Noel Meade, and jockey favorite Rachel Blackmore, I hear that same day, a jockey received an eight-week ban from racing for bringing his girlfriend to the races at another track without wristband or health checks.

“It was extremely difficult and strange during the lockdown because nobody knew where the coronavirus was going, and nobody knew when the country was going to open up again,” said Paddy, “and yet we had to keep working, and preparing because you can’t prepare a racetrack overnight.”

Above: Managing director of Kilbeggan Races, Paddy Dunican. Headline photo: Sponsors Conor Hughes of Mullingar Park Hotel, and Dermot Kilmurray of Kilmurray Hardware."It's not sustainable without the social aspect to the sport," says Conor Hughes (left), while Dermot (right) adds "It means a lot to us that the industry keeps going, I've been going all my life, but it's strange to see things as they are now."

“It was a worrying time, there was the whole uncertainty of when we would be able to open for racing meetings, and if we would lose any that had been scheduled. But thankfully we’ve added dates, and today is our eighth meeting. We’re racing again on Monday October 13.

“Racecourses provide the critical infrastructure for an industry that’s worth €1.8bn to the economy, and supports 29,000 jobs. So from that point of view it’s important to keep running, but from our own point of view it’s very different.

“It’s dead without the public here. Kilbeggan is all about the social occasion, it’s all about local people coming to enjoy a day out and unfortunately that can’t happen, and you really miss that aspect of it,” Paddy said.

“At the same time the coronavirus is here and we have to adjust and keep going. We’ve been fortunate that the people who sponsor us have stayed on to support us. Our Axa Midlands National went ahead this year, which is a significant race in the summer season. And we’ve probably had our best and most competitive horses running at Kilbeggan this year, so the quality of racing has improved.”

As Kilbeggan is a voluntary organisation, it is community-driven and the MD says he is fortunate that he works with “a great bunch of people who take huge pride in running the racecourse”.

Above: Jockey Rachael Blackmore

Paul Murtagh, registrar of the National Hunt Committee, says a return to racing during Covid meant a huge amount of change.

“My job is to make sure that all the protocols are adhered to. We license all the trainers, riders, and stable staff, so we have to make sure all the staff are happy and feel safe within the environment at each of the racecourses. We deal with 26 racecourses and every facility is different,” said the Mullingar man.

“It’s going to take some time to get back to where we were,” Paul said. “Everything we do is guided by government, and the guidelines at the moment are that all sporting events are held behind closed doors.

“We would like to see the owners allowed in, because without the owners, we wouldn’t have an industry,” said Paul.

“The next phase would be to let in some of the public in. That would see a big step towards normality. If we could have the public back, then maybe we could have some bookmakers, the bars and restaurants could reopen on site. But we’re really going from week to week, and day to day, so what the timeframe is for that, we don’t know.

“In the meantime, it’s so important for this industry to keep going, there’s so much employment and spin-off to the rural economy, what’s happening here today is important.”

Paul said that even if 200 people were allowed at outdoor sports events, it would not change anything for racing.

“There’s 100 horses here today, that’s 100 grooms, 30 trainers, 30 riders, the numbers get swallowed up pretty quickly. The phase we need to get to is 500 – at least then we could let in owners back in, and it needs to go to 1,000 outdoors before we could even think of letting in the public.

“But it’s the public at the end of the day who enjoy the races – it’s an occasion, they have a drink, have a bet, put money into the local economy, so we realise this isn’t sustainable, we’re just doing what we can to keep going.”

Treasurer Tom Lynam (above) , who lives just half a mile from the track, has been involved with Kilbeggan Races since the 1950s, and remembers when there were only two race meetings in the year.

“We have nine this year and are hoping to go to have 10 next year. We’re hoping to God it keeps going! It’s great for the locality, and as well as the locals always supporting it, people travel from all over, from Dublin, Offaly and all around. A certain amount of locals sponsor the races and they’ve stood by us thank God. But it’s not to same when there’s nobody around. It’s not the same atmosphere, not the same morale.”

“You have to have a good platform to keep the good horses running nowadays,” said Tom.

“You can see how green the grass is here, I suppose it was a soft year overall. But it takes a lot of work, a lot of preparation, and we’ve been keeping on top of that throughout.

We had Dot Love here last week, she had three winners. So if you don’t keep it going, a lot of people will lose out. We also have workers from FÁS coming in to give a hand, so it has far-reaching benefits for everyone in the community.

Trainer Noel Meade (above) had four horse running in Kilbeggan on Friday. Training horses since 1969, he said "It's absolutely essential that the industry keeps going."

"It may be a sport to other people, but it's our business. We make our living out of training horses, and the jockeys make their living out of riding them.

"Look it's great to be here racing, but it's difficult to keep owners happy. They've been marvellous to keep going at the moment, only being able to see it in TV. Whatever about the public getting back racing, it would be great to get the owners back.

"But at the moment, when you come in here, and there's no restaurant, no bar, it is a soulless place. A not just Kilbeggan, all race meetings are soulless places at the moment."

Above: Nicolas Flynn and Cllr Liam McDaniels of Westmeath County Council, sponsor. Nicky and Liam have been attending the races at Kilbeggan since they were "young lads". “It’s one of the things that keeps Kilbeggan on the map and it’s great for the community to have a facility like this, so we hope to see the public back as soon as possible. But what’s most important is health, and you can see that strict guidelines are being followed here today. That’s a tribute to Paddy Dunican and all the staff here,” commented Cllr McDaniels.