Things are looking up for Irish racing.

Figures released recently by Horse Racing Ireland showed that attendances for the first six months of the year were up 7.5% and this trend was replicated at the Galway Races.

Over the seven days at Ballybrit, a total of 122,362 people passed through the turnstiles, a rise of 5,660 on the previous year. The figure would have been higher but for a very wet Friday evening at the races.

Galway was immediately followed by the bank holiday meeting at Naas which – for the first time - offered free admission, courtesy of Ballyhane Stud in Co Carlow. This wasn’t a run-of-the-mill meeting either. The racing was good quality and featured a rare sighting of Vauban, who won impressively and is now clear favourite for the Melbourne Cup.

This free admission initiative resulted in a bumper turnout, and now attention turns to the Curragh on Saturday (12 August) when again there will be no admission fee, this time sponsored by the on-course bookmakers.

Again, this is a day of high-class racing. The feature race is the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes which will probably be won by trainer Aidan O’Brien with a potential superstar.

Attendances at the Curragh this year have been on the rise, following sterling efforts by the racecourse to connect with the local community, alter the pricing structure and allow racegoers the freedom to roam all around the €90 million facility.

Now that the inter-county GAA action ends in July, and there is no World Cup or Euros or Olympics taking place, racing has a window to win back some of the racegoers it may have lost in recent years.

The Irish Champions Festival (at Leopardstown and the Curragh on 9-10 September) and the Listowel Harvest Festival (17-23 September) will tell us more about whether Irish racing is still able to draw significant crowds, but the signs are promising.

Another positive indicator is the gradual rise in betting with the Tote. For the first six months of 2023 Tote betting was up 6.3%. The Irish Tote has effectively merged with the British Tote and the management there are doing some very interesting things.

In these days when gambling has become quite a toxic word in public discourse, the Tote is marketing its services in a fun and inclusive way, where ‘players’ can win big for a small stake in all sorts of ways. Watch out Paddy Power, pool betting may be on the brink of a big breakthrough.