Thurles Racecourse

 

 

Thurles Racecourse is primarily known as one of the homes of Gaelic sports, however it is also a popular venue for horse racing. This track is one of three in the county of Tipperary with racing having taken place at this venue as early as 1732. This track has long been considered one of the most important assets to Irish National Hunt racing, one of the reasons for this being that racing can be held here after all weathers and throughout the winter months with little need for postponement or cancellations. Eleven meetings are held between October and March each year with the most important of the three Grade 2 contests being the Kinloch Brae Chase which is held in January. This race has been won by the likes of Don Cossack, Hi Cloy, Newmill (twice) and Native Upmanship (thrice).

 

Thurles Racecourse Location

Thurles is located in County Tipperary some 152km south-west of Dublin. Regular half-hourly train services connect the town with the Irish capital. The journey time is less than one and a half hours, some more direct trains taking just over one hour. Once at the station, taxis are available although these are rarely plentiful and may need to be booked in advance, especially on race days. For those who feel a little more energetic, the course can be reached on foot in a little over 20 minutes although bear in mind that you will be walking along some busy roads. Buses are generally few and far between.

 

Track

The track at Thurles Racecourse is a right-handed undulating circuit with a length of approximately one and a quarter miles. Some sections have an uphill gradient although there is a significant descent onto the two furlong home straight. This track is sharp in character and favours handy types. A circuit on the chase course has seven fences with two of these being on the home straight, the run-in being around one furlong. This is a very well-drained track and as such few meetings fall victim to adverse weather.

 

 

Thurles Racecourse Betting Guide

This is reckoned to be an excellent track to ride. Runners need to be given a chance heading up the hill on the back straight otherwise they will struggle to get home. The ground here is excellent and never really gets deep even in the worst of conditions. There is often better ground out wider and this can play a big part towards the later races in a card when the inside ground has been chopping up.

Gordon Elliott is pick of the trainers with 12 wins from 42 runners. His strike rate of 28.57% pales in comparison to that of Willie Mullins with 10 from 31, a rate of 32.26%. Top of the jockeys is Robbie Power with 7 wins from 24. Davy Russell can boast the same number of wins from 29. Paul Townend comes in next with 6 wins from 28.