Dundalk Resurfacing Going Well

The resurfacing of the track at Dundalk, Ireland's only all-weather track, is proceeding nicely, reported the venue's chief executive Jim Martin.

“We said that we would have it done by June 15 and are well on target for that so we can race on July 12,” he said. “The month period before starting racing here again will give everyone the chance to have a look and to have trial runs with horses galloping on it.

“This is the time of the year to get work done on all-weather tracks. It's more pliable in the heat and easier to manage. It's also easier to work longer days with the light, while if it's wet, the wax tightens up and it's not as easy to work with.”

The track, opened in 2007, had some remedial work performed last August.

Martin said: “We put 54 tons of fibre on the surface and everyone was very happy, including a number of all-weather track experts. We had a record number of runners per race after the work was done, and when you see [trainer] Aidan [O'Brien] coming to gallop Group 1 horses and Derby winners, it speaks for itself.”

Martin said he hopes that more use can be made of Dundalk, which is set to host a total of 38 fixtures in 2020.

“We…are the least-used all-weather track in the world,” he said. “If we did happen to get very wet weather later in the year from say October to December and the turf tracks got very soft, I could see a lot of trainers saying why don't we race three times a week in Dundalk to give horses an opportunity to run.”

Of the 10 meetings held in Ireland before coronavirus brought racing to a halt, two were staged successfully at Dundalk.

“The meetings we held behind closed doors went very well. We had cleaners in wiping everything down both before and during racing. People were keeping their social distance, and everyone took the protocols very seriously. It would be great to get back to normal, but at the moment just to get back racing is the first step. We lost a meeting in March and four in April, so hopefully we will be back racing for our fixture on July 12.”