By Sean Moriarty 

The first ever cycle race event at Killarney Racecourse has been hailed an event with “massive potential”.

Killarney Cycling Club ran a round of the Munster Youth League on the racecourse’s ambulance track on Tuesday evening.

Young riders came from all over Munster with riders from Under-10 to Under-16 racing on the tarmac track that surrounds the racecourse.

The club’s primary motive to run the event at the racecourse was on safety grounds and by doing so they took road racing off the open public roads and into a safe and controlled environment.

“Our biggest issues are the safety plans and traffic management that is needed to run a road race,” chairman Mark Murphy told the Killarney Advertiser. “Parents don’t want their kids racing in events like this and without our youth, in 10 or 15 years we will have no future.”

The club hope to engage with racecourse management about the potential running of future events there.

As it stands, future youth races could continue at the venue, but the track is not wide enough for adult or national-level competitions.

“Wouldn’t it be great if we could have a road race once a month?” he added.