The Dealer nearly fell out of his stand this week when he realised that racing in Thurles was cancelled due to hard ground.

Given that livestock across the south and east were doing the breast-stoke for much of the spring and summer due to the Biblical rains that fell, it seems bananas that racing could be cancelled at the end of October for want of water.

The cancellation was a pity as Thurles always struck The Dealer as one of those rare and exceptional spots where all the essentials of life were very neatly packaged together like three peas in a pod.

Tom Semple’s famous hurling field is located across the road from the dog track, which is a mere stone’s throw from the racetrack.

Thurles remains an exceptional place – it just needs a little more water.