Roe all set for flagship festival at Fairyhouse

TOM GANNON

Ahead of this weekend's Easter Festival Fairyhouse Racecourse general manager Peter Roe is at his busiest ensuring everything is ready for the biggest weekend of the year.

The general manager spoke about how bad weather has had a serious impact on preparing the track itself for the big weekend. He also touched on how heavy conditions at Cheltenham coupled with a quick turnaround has made it difficult for some Cheltenham runners whose connections otherwise may have considered competing at the Easter Festival.

"We are on the other side of one of the wettest winters in history. That has made it difficult for our track staff in terms of preparing the track for the Easter festival," Roe told the Meath Chronicle.

"The fact that Easter is much earlier this year has not helped either. That has a knock-on effect not only on the ground but on the horses coming to the festival. The fact that Easter is so quickly after a Cheltenham festival that was run on heavy ground is not ideal. In the past, if they had better ground at Cheltenham and more of a break they would be more likely to recover quicker and turn up to compete at the Easter festival. "

The Irish Grand National is Fairyhouse's biggest race of the year. Local trainer Dermot McLoughlin won the race two years in a row in 2021 and 2022. This year there will be fantastic local interest again with runners from the stables of Gordon Elliott, Gavin Cromwell, Tom Gibney, Dermot Mcloughlin and Karl Thornton.

"From a racing perspective, some great stories might play out in the Grand National itself. Gordon (Elliott) has a strong contingent and numerically has an advantage. Gavin (Cromwell) has a couple in it as well," said Roe.

"Locally though there are a few potential brilliant stories. You would love to see Tom Gibney's horse go well, that would be a fantastic result. It would be great to see him come back again with Intense Raffles having previously won the race with Lion Na Bearnai.

"Dermot (McLoughlin) has Digby in the race and Karl Thornton, who isn't far away, his horse Where's Frankie has been a regular competitor here at Fairyhouse and that would be another fantastic story."

Roe is a shrewd judge himself and this year he has a soft spot for one particular horse who is currently priced at 33/1 to take home the prize.

"Everyone is talking about the top two in the market and they both have very good Fairyhouse form. I tend to look at the Fairyhouse form for the National first and foremost," admitted Roe.

"I have a very soft spot for Where's Frankie for Tom Gibney. He is down the bottom of the weights and it will be a fantastic story should he pull the victory off. So between those three, Intense Raffles, Nick Rocket, and Where's Frankie, I think all three will be there or thereabouts."

Roe went on to explain that outside of the National itself, there is plenty of other fantastic racing across the three days.

"The Rybo hurdle on Saturday attracts some great fields and its sponsor Micheal Ryan has been a fantastic supporter of Fairyhouse. Elaine O'Farrell of Race Displays is taking on the Hunter Chase this year and the ladies chase this year being run in honour of Fred Kenny will also be another important race happening over the weekend.

"You obviously have the Gold Cup as the feature on the Sunday which has had some fantastic winners over the years. Spillane's Tower for Jimmy Mangan would be a fantastic story in that.

"In the mares novice it will be interesting to see if Jade Du Grugy and Brighterdaysahead can bounce back after disappointment at Cheltenham.

"On Monday you have the Grade 2 O'Driscalls juvenile hurdle where golfers Brooks Koepka and Graeme McDowell may have a runner trained by Harry Derham. The race before the national is worth €100,000, and it will be interesting to see if Easy Game can complete a hat-trick of victories in that."

The Cheltenham Festival received some backlash this year for its expensive pricing and many pointed to that as the reason why crowds were down across the week. Roe explained how he and his team are keen to keep providing good value for money for punters who wish to go racing at Fairyhouse.

"A lot of English racing fans are starting to make the journey across the Irish Sea to go racing. I think they recognise the quality of racing over here but also the value for money," he said.

"If you consider when you go to Cheltenham, to park your car is £30. We have free parking here. It is a completely different kettle of fish. I do think we offer good value. Like every business, costs are only going one way and it is getting harder and harder. However, we are very conscious of maintaining that good value for people who want to come racing at Fairyhouse."

Away from the racing, the biggest change that Fairyhouse has made this year has been moving ladies' day forward to Saturday. Roe explained how there has been an uptake in bookings for Saturday as a result.

"I suppose the most fundamental difference this year is that ladies day has been moved forward to Saturday. It used to always be on the Monday but there was always a sense that it was overshadowed by the action on the track on the Monday.

"That is a very positive change and our bookings for Saturday have been very positive as a result. Sunday is family day, and there are a lot of activities for kids, particularly on Sunday. Of course, everything builds up to the Irish National at pm on Monday," concluded Roe.