Leopardstown confident ground conditions will be right for Dublin Racing Festival

Leopardstown’s authorities are confident of delivering “appropriate” ground conditions for next month’s Dublin Racing Festival.

Even four weeks out from the prestigious two-day fixture (February 5th-6th) that is key to preparations for the following month’s Cheltenham festival, the state of the going at Leopardstown is already a focus of some attention.

Both Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott have already expressed concerns about running some of their star names on one of the biggest dates of the racing year.

The state of the ground on the steeplechase course in particular has come under the spotlight in recent years.

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In 2019 the Irish Gold Cup was reduced to just four runners, with six horses taken out due to the going, as some owners and trainers expressed fears about ground getting too fast.

It came under focus again recently when despite almost two inches of rain falling on Christmas Day watering resumed by day two of the festive action.

That has led to Mullins and Elliott expressing some unease about potentially running some of their top chasers at the Dublin Racing Festival if the going gets too quick.

“You need a bit of cut in the ground for jumping,” Mullins stressed recently.

A series of initiatives to address the ground issues have been taken by Leopardstown, including the appointment last year of the turf consultancy firm STRI who have been working on the famously quick-draining surface.

Leopardstown's chief executive Tim Husbands said he is confident that conditions will be suitable for the track's next big date.

“We plan for all eventualities. That’s why we have a programme of watering taking place already. I have every confidence my team will be able to deliver the ground that’s required for a premier National Hunt racing festival,” he said on Sunday.

“It’s a combination of looking at the weather forecast, looking at rainfall and how much watering we need to do. We do it on a weekly basis. We will be walking the track on Tuesday morning and reviewing what we’ll do in the week ahead.

“That’s what we’ll do all the time as we head towards the Dublin Racing Festival,” he added.

Wet winter weather could yet sideline the need for sustained watering on the run-in to the major fixture.

“This week probably looks like a drier week. Who’s to know what will happen in the two to three weeks beforehand. But I’m confident the team will be able to deliver,” Husbands said.

“We intend to prepare ground appropriate for National Hunt racing. We can’t prepare ground for particular trainers. We have to prepare the ground as we’re required to do.”

A total of four Grade One races will be run on each of the two days across the festival which this year will see the Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle switched to the Sunday.

The unbeaten mare Honeysuckle is on course to try and land that race for a second season in a row.

The Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup will be the feature event of the day one action which also includes the Irish Arkle Novice Chase.