Racing: why do racegoers prefer Kerry over Kildare?

There will be 25,000 racegoers at Listowel next Wednesday for the Kerry National and there will probably be even more that at the North Kerry venue two days later for Ladies Day.

So can anyone explain why the combined crowd figure for the Irish Champions Festival [ICF] at Leopardstown and the Curragh last weekend came in at less than 19,000?

It can’t be due to the quality of the racing. The standard at ICF was off the charts – some of the very best racehorses in the world were running at Leopardstown and the Curragh.

It’s possibly the price of the tickets but I doubt it. A general admission ticket for each day of ICF was €35 (or €60 for a weekend ticket). At Listowel it’s €25 on the big days and just €15 on the lesser days of the seven-day Harvest Festival.

Listowel’s two biggest days are during the working week. Surely, the Irish Champions Festival holds an advantage in being on Saturday and Sunday? Is it the location? Leopardstown is just a few kilometres from Dublin city centre and there are multiple transport options but you could argue that neither Leopardstown nor the Curragh have local support in the way Listowel or, say, Ballinrobe has.

Criticism

Horse Racing Ireland has come in for some criticism regarding the marketing of the Irish Champions Festival but you can be sure the promotional budget for that two-day meeting far exceeds whatever Listowel are spending, or indeed the Galway Races.

It really is puzzling as to why more people don’t go to what is Ireland’s premier flat racing fixture.

Leopardstown attracted 36,000 punters through the gates for its two-day Dublin Racing Festival in February.

That meeting is all-jumps and regarded by many as the premier trials day for the Cheltenham Festival. But some of the races only have four or five runners and Willie Mullins always dominates.

At Christmas, Leopardstown gets between 11,000 and 17,000 each day for its four-day festival, but I guess you can’t compare Christmas with any other time of the year.

A huge percentage of Christmas racegoers are only there for social reasons rather than racing.

The Irish Champions Festival has been on the go for over 10 years now and I suppose the only conclusion to draw from it is that, in terms of attendance, it has plateaued at around 10,000 racegoers per day. That’s a shame as it deserves more.

The Curragh, in particular, made a big effort last Sunday to make it a special occasion. There was plenty of off-track entertainment and loads of different bars and eating options to suit everyone.

So why did only 8,800 people show up?

Answers on a postcard please.