McDonogh leading the way at Dundalk

Action on the flat is set to resume at Dundalk tomorrow (Friday) with Moynalty man Declan McDonogh leading the jockeys 2020 / 2021 Winter Series ahead of talented young apprentice Sam Ewing.

Ashbourne woman Siobhan Rutledge also makes the leaderboard.

In the trainers’ standings John McConnell and Joseph O'Brien are the top two while Matthew Smith, Edward Lynam and Sheila Lavery also feature.

There is a covering of snow at the venue, but Manager Jim Martin envisages no problems with the meeting going ahead.

“We had a cold night and have a covering of snow at the moment but there is no further snow forecast and the meeting will go ahead as planned,” said Martin.

TOP YOUNG JOCKEY SAM EWING AND TIGER ROLL

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has announced four additional fixtures for Dundalk in January and February to help cope with the recent high levels of entries at the track and the significant numbers of horses that have been balloted out of races at the end of 2020.

The extra meetings will be on Monday 11th January (afternoon), Wednesday 20th January (evening), Monday 1st February (afternoon) and Wednesday 17th February (afternoon).

“We have had representations from the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association, the Restricted Trainers Association and the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners, all of whom have expressed serious concern," commented HRI director of racing Jason Morris.

"We are therefore pleased to be able to provide these additional opportunities during January and February to augment the existing programme.

“We envisage scheduling four or five races at each of these new meetings to allow for potential divides of multiple races to create eight-race cards at the additional fixtures.

“We are grateful to Dundalk Racecourse for agreeing to contribute towards the funding of these meetings, as is the case with any additional fixtures allocated to racecourses.

“The dates and times for these meetings have been reviewed with SIS to identify the most beneficial slots from a betting turnover perspective and we are grateful to them for supporting the scheduling of these additional meetings.

"We have also liaised closely with Racing TV to ensure that we are maximising broadcast coverage for these new fixtures,” he added.

The schedule for Dundalk in January is as follows: Friday, 8th January; Mon 11th January; Friday 15th January; Wednesday 20th January; Friday 22nd January; Friday 29th January.