Sunday, October 4, 2009
Big day today. Since we learned about them last week, Kevin and I have been looking forward to the Point to Point horse races in Castletown Geoghan, about three miles from here.
They take place in a farmer’s field, around an impromptu, one mile course of jumps and hills and straight aways. Sonja took us. Ten euro apiece (not per car) to enter. Quite an operation and very popular, you just drive through the gate, pay your fee then find a place to park anywhere you can. These point to point races take place all over Ireland. The purses are 800 - 1,000 euro for 1st place, with payoffs for 2nd, and to place.
Many bookies were set up under red umbrellas ready to take bets. Concession stands were scattered around the field, and races taking place elsewhere were being televised on a monitor.
The first race began at 1:00 pm, the sixth and final race at 3:00 pm.
We all watch the paddock of horses before each race, place a bet (or not), then trek up the hill for a good vantage point to watch the race as the horses run off into the distance, then circle around and over hurdles, before rounding a huge bale of hay and heading back towards the point where they began. Hence the name of the event, point to point.
Each race was three times around the one mile circuit. A real marathon of endurance, ending with a hurdle near the finish line. We saw two horses go down over this jump, but they both walked away unhurt (to our eyes).
I picked the winner of the second race but did not have a bet down. Kevin picked the winner of the fourth race and did have a bet placed. His ten euro bet won him 27.50 euro.
Kevin's bookie was also taking bets for the race at the Arch de Triump in France, comparable to the last leg of our Triple Crown. We heard later it was won by the favorite, See the Stars, a champion of champions racehorse!
We heard the crowd was not as large as expected (bad economy and all) and many trainers scratched their horses because the field was too hard. The weather was great until the end when it cooled off and became windy.
We actually left the races with more euro than when we arrived.
It was a fun afternoon.
Big day today. Since we learned about them last week, Kevin and I have been looking forward to the Point to Point horse races in Castletown Geoghan, about three miles from here.
They take place in a farmer’s field, around an impromptu, one mile course of jumps and hills and straight aways. Sonja took us. Ten euro apiece (not per car) to enter. Quite an operation and very popular, you just drive through the gate, pay your fee then find a place to park anywhere you can. These point to point races take place all over Ireland. The purses are 800 - 1,000 euro for 1st place, with payoffs for 2nd, and to place.
Many bookies were set up under red umbrellas ready to take bets. Concession stands were scattered around the field, and races taking place elsewhere were being televised on a monitor.
The first race began at 1:00 pm, the sixth and final race at 3:00 pm.
We all watch the paddock of horses before each race, place a bet (or not), then trek up the hill for a good vantage point to watch the race as the horses run off into the distance, then circle around and over hurdles, before rounding a huge bale of hay and heading back towards the point where they began. Hence the name of the event, point to point.
Each race was three times around the one mile circuit. A real marathon of endurance, ending with a hurdle near the finish line. We saw two horses go down over this jump, but they both walked away unhurt (to our eyes).
I picked the winner of the second race but did not have a bet down. Kevin picked the winner of the fourth race and did have a bet placed. His ten euro bet won him 27.50 euro.
Kevin's bookie was also taking bets for the race at the Arch de Triump in France, comparable to the last leg of our Triple Crown. We heard later it was won by the favorite, See the Stars, a champion of champions racehorse!
We heard the crowd was not as large as expected (bad economy and all) and many trainers scratched their horses because the field was too hard. The weather was great until the end when it cooled off and became windy.
We actually left the races with more euro than when we arrived.
It was a fun afternoon.
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