Weekend Outlook | 25th & 26th January

EAST DOWN (F) at Tyrella on 25 Jan 2020

First Race: 12:30

Number of Entries: 92

Admission: £5

East Down Foxhounds have received the biggest entry of the weekend with 92 horses. The Point-to-Point course at Tyrella is situated at the foot of the picturesque Mourne Mountains which were made famous by the Percy French song and the East Down’s have been racing at this location for the last 56 years.

The Northern season gets underway again this Saturday with the seaside fixture holding the first of its two meetings in 2020. The second fixture is scheduled for the second weekend in March.

On Thursday Kelvin Henderson informed us:

“Preparations are going well; we just passed our course inspection and the ground has been given good to yielding in places. We have received an entry of 92, so we are pleased with that, hopefully people will come along on the day and support us.

“We will have our usual hot food caterers and their will also be licenced bar onsite. The INHS are generously sponsoring the six-year-old and upwards mares’ race with an additional BONUS to the winning owner of €1000. We will be holding schooling after racing.”

For more information and directions click here

SCARTEEN (F) at Kilfeacle on 26th Jan 2020

First Race: 12:30

Number of Entries: 73

Admission: €10

Kilfeacle is a gently turning galloping track that has hosted point-to-point racing since 2001, the Co. Tipperary course has a reputation for producing some useful types over the years with the likes of Doran’s Pride, Ned Kelly and First Lieutenant all being graduates of the track.

Hunt secretary Hazel Russell updated us on proceedings:

“Everything is looking good for the weekend; the fences went up today and we will have our turf club inspection in the morning, the ground is in good condition, so hopefully we will get a good turn out on the day.

“We have our own food tent which is organised by the hunt, with soup and sandwiches along with tea/coffee for all our supporters and landowners. There will also be a chip van on site.”

For more information and directions click here.

DUNGARVAN FARMERS (F) at Dungarvan on 26th Jan 2020

First Race: 12:30

Number of Entries: 66

Admission: €10 and free for U16's

With the Southern season in full flow, Dungarvan hosts the action this weekend.

The Co. Waterford fixture takes place across three farms and historically the track has previously been run in a figure of eight formation, in 2018 the committee elected to run the track left-handed, which was very well received and it will be run left-handed again this year.

Previous graduates of the track include Grand National winner Monty’s Pass, Lexus Chase winner Pandorama, and RSA Chase winner Jessies Dream.

We caught up with hunt secretary Liam Carroll and he tells us how preparations are going:

“The course is in good order; all the fences have gone up and we will have our inspection tomorrow. We will have all our usual food caterers onsite and we are looking forward to a good days racing.

"We will run the track in the same layout as last year. There is rain in the forecast but hopefully there won’t be too much of it. We will have a big screen near the bookmakers which will have the racing on it to bring the racing closer to the crowd.”

For more information and directions click here.