Curragh race course in Dublin, Ireland is the one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world. The Irish Derby festival is a three-day meeting. Friday had a twilight card with the first race at 6 00 P M. The seventh and last race was run at 9 00 P M. There is daylight well past 9 P M.
Curragh race course is in the countryside. I did not make it to the Friday meeting as my plane to Dublin was late by several hours. There was not enough time to check in at my hotel in the Dublin City Center and head to the Curragh.
Dublin has a commendable transportation network. The buses and trains are clean and run on time. Dublin is also served by an excellent tram system. On Saturday, I went to the main bus station to take a bus to the Curragh. It was a pleasant day punctuated by occasional showers. It was an enjoyable 50-minute ride. The return bus to Dublin leaves 30 minutes after the last race. After alighting, you have to walk five minutes to get to the main entrance. As you enter the track, the paddock is to your left. The jockeys’ room is to the right. The riders walk about 20 or 25 yards to get to the paddock and as they do, they take a moment to say hello to the fans and sign an autograph or two.
The Curragh is 2 miles in circumference. It is an expansive track. Five and six-furlong races are run on straight courses. Some of the mile races are also run on the straight course. Curragh is a demanding, undulating track in which the horses go up and down, go into a downward slide as they race to the top of the homebend and go uphill as they race over the last 300 metres.
There is a huge bookmaking ring. There are, at least, 40 bookmakers. There is no betting tax. There are some who offer odds on all the horses in a given race to the exclusion of the favorite. It is called ‘betting without the favorite.’ The bookmakers are friendly. They thank you when you make a bet. If you win, you are thanked again with a smile when you cash the computer generated betting slip. All the boomakers except one, had computer systems and the odds are shown in red against a dark backdrop. The exception (bookmaker) was using chalk-I walked up to him to tell him that I liked the ‘chalk’ system. “I am an old fashioned guy,” was his answer.
The tote is popular. There is a Jackpot. There is what is called the Placepot. The object is to pick hroses in five or six consecutive races who will ‘place.’ There is a Trio and you pick the top three finishers in any order. There are Perfectas. Ladbrokes, the Britsh bookmaking outfit, runs an office at the Curragh. Bets are taken on races from the United Kingdom, France, Italy and South Africa. Bets are taken on dog races from England. You can also wager on computer-controlled horse races. It does not end there. You want to bet on cricket-you can. Football is on the menu. There was a lot of money bet on Wimbledon (tennis) matches. This is what I call ‘betting without borders.’
In Europe, you have 25 and 30-horse fields. They are common. It is a Russian Roulette. You cannot handicap these races. One group of horses will race on the far side. The other group will race on the stands’ side. It is a spectacle. There was a 30-horse field at the Curragh. The race was over two miles. There was a flag start.
Saturday’s feature was the Group I Pretty Polly Stakes. It was for fillies and mares over 2000 metres. The Pretty Polly was sponsored by Audi (German carmaker) and there were nine horses in the race.
Peeping Fawn, third in the Irish 1000 Guineas and second in the Epsom Oaks five days later, was the public choice. She was 9-4 and you could get 5-2 here and there. As post time approached, Peeping Fawn attracted the bulk of the attention to get to 7-4. Timarwa, a maiden winner, was surprisingly well-bet at 7-2 and 10-3. There had been intermittent rain. The going was soft. Speciosa, the 2006 English 1000 Guineas winner, showed the way. West Wind, the French Oaks winner, sat third. Peeping Fawn was held up by Kieren Fallon and was in 6th place. With 600 metres left, Speciosa was kicking on and West Wind was not responding to her rider’s call. Fallon had put Peeping Fawn in top gear and was making headway. Peeping Fawn moved to the stands’ side as Speciosa went to the midpart in the last 300 metres. Two hundred metres out, Peeping Fawn had surged to the front. With a crack or two from Fallon’s whip, Peeping Fawn went on to win by two lengths. Speciosa was two lengths in front of West Wind. The others were outclassed. The winning time was 2 10.06 seconds. The winner’s share of the purse was 150,000 Euros.
“She’s a good filly. The opposition was strong today. She (Peeping Fawn) knew what had to be done and did it well. It was not an easy race for her. I hope she comes out fine. She has been brought on steadily this year,” Kieren Fallon said.
Aidan O’Brien, the winning trainer confirmed that Peeping Fawn’s next race is the Irish Oaks at the Curragh on July 15. Peeping Fawn is by Danehill who is by Danzig. Danzig is a son of Northern Dancer. Maryinsky is Peeping Fawn’s mother. Saddler’s Wells is Maryinsky’s sire. Commenting on Peeping Fawn’s bloodlines, O’Brien stated, “she thrives on racing like Danehill. She relishes soft going like Saddler’s Wells. I am confident she will handle better conditions equally well.”
In the Irish Oaks, Peeping Fawn will be reopposed by Light Shift, the Epsom Oaks winner. Light Shift, a Henry Cecil trainee, beat Peeping Fawn at Epsom Downs.
The last race on Saturday went off at 5 15 P M. It was a great bus ride back to Dublin. Lots of laughter in the bus and a lot of racing talk. Now I have to start handicapping the Irish Derby on Sunday. Eagle Mountain is my choice. Kieren Fallon rides. The forecast calls for heavy rain on Sunday. Testing ground will complicate things.
