The final festival of the season, AutumnFest took place at Killarney Races at the weekendand it delivered a fun-filled programme with increased crowds, top-class racing and a superb atmosphere.
Despite a testing start on the weather front on Saturday, it certainly didn’t dampen the spirits of those in attendance and with no less than a dozen individual hen and stag parties raring to go at the track, the bars were full, the bookies were busy and the craic was mighty.
Thankfully, the sun shone for punters for the national hunt card on Sunday which was a fantastic day of racing action, although not without plenty of drama and media headlines too.
Over the weekend, Tote very generously sponsored 11 races and EBF sponsored three races, attracting a good entry with all the top yards represented.
Trainer Jessica Harrington enjoyed a double on Saturday with the O’Brien brothers, Donnacha and Joseph, each on the winners’ board with Navel Force and Gamble Veloci obliging for the pair respectively.
Bang Po, ridden by Donagh O’Connor and trained by Ross O’Sullivan, was promoted to winner status following the case of mistaken identity and subsequent disqualification.
A handling mix-up meant a stable with two horses on the card ran the wrong horse in the wrong race which, in turn, duly went on to win. On inspection, the mix-up was identified and the horse was disqualified by the stewards.
The unusual occurrence was witnessed by bumper crowd at the meeting and the incident received plenty of media coverage and commentary. The trainer involved was fined €3,000 by the stewards and held his hands up over the incident which, he said, was down to human error.
Sunday was a national hunt day with seven exciting races over jumps. Dual purpose trainer Joseph O’Brien got on the board again with Goodie Two Shoes winning the first race of the day.
Enda Bolger’s Solidary Man won the Tote.ie Novice Hurdle in impressive fashion with Darragh O’Keeffe on board. Much to the delight of punters, strong favourite in the market, Londonofficeiscalling, obliged at 5/2 in the fourth race for father and son combination Eric and Conor McNamara, covering the expenses of the day for many in attendance.
Tony Martin’s Read to Return ridden by Philip Enright took the Tote Fantacy Beginners’ Chase to bring down the curtain on the festival and indeed the season at Killarney Races.
Killarney Racecourse Chairman, Billy O’Sullivan commented: “What a lovely meeting AutumnFest turned out to be. It was a great two-day meeting that was thoroughly enjoyed by all with some fantastic winners”.
Next year, Killarney Races will feature four festivals to enjoy over the months of May, July, August and October and tickets for all festivals including general admission, punters packs, dining and hospitality and memberships are available online now.
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