Curragh to inspect on Friday

Racing: Saturday’s meeting at the Curragh is subject to a precautionary inspection at 7am on Friday

Racing: Saturday's meeting at the Curragh is subject to a precautionary inspection at 7am on Friday. The opening day of the Darley Irish Oaks meeting is under threat due to recent rain.

With the ground already heavy, further rain on this morning resulted in Curragh manager Paul Hensey announcing an early check. Saturday’s feature is the Group Three KARE Race Day Minstrel Stakes and if the meeting falls it will move to Sunday, replacing the O´Briens Wines Handicap.

“I walked the track with clerk of the course Brendan Sheridan and we had a further 7.2 millimetres of rain overnight and early morning,” said Hensey. “We’ve taken the precaution of calling an inspection ahead of Saturday’s meeting in case we get any further heavy rain.

“We have a Plan B in place that if we have to abandon Saturday, we will move the Minstrel Stakes to Sunday and it will replace the 50-85 handicap over 10 furlongs. There is the threat of further showers but the forecast we’ve got for the next few days is favourable, so it’s purely precautionary.”

  • Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date

  • Sign up for push alerts to get the best breaking news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone

  • Listen to In The News podcast daily for a deep dive on the stories that matter