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[caption id="attachment_23012" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Pics: Dylan Clifford.[/caption]

The newly crowned Rose of Tralee, Kirsten Mate Maher from Waterford, made her first public appearance at the Killarney Races on Wednesday and she was greeted by our own Kieran Healy who was on hand to present the prizes for the Killarney Advertiser Handicap. The race was won by 7/1 second favourite High Altitude.

Fashion stylists, footballers and broadcasters are also descending on Killarney Racecourse this week for a four-day festival of high quality racing and entertainment.

The racing will conclude on Saturday when TV3 fashion guru and stylist Mandy Maher, of the Catwalk Model Agency, will link up with dapper Radio Kerry broadcaster Brendan Fuller to judge the Best Dressed Lady and Best Dressed Gent competitions.

The prize for the Best Dressed Lady is a spectacular €2,000 diamond ring set in an exquisite gold band and the Best Dressed Gent will receive formal and casual attire worth €1,000.

This evening’s (Friday’s) meeting will see many of the Kerry GAA stars joining the punters for a special Kerry GAA benefit night. It’s an occasion not to be missed and the message to Kingdom fans is to keep their eyes open and they’ll never know who they’ll bump into.

Racing today will commence 4.45pm and tomorrow (Saturday) it’s a 1.25pm start.

The big one today is the €50,000 Grade B At The Races Handicap Hurdle, which will be the sixth race on the card at 7.30pm.

Saturday’s feature race will be the €50,000 MSL Cork Mercedes Benz Handicap Steeplechase, Grade B, which will get under starter’s orders at 4.20pm.

Admission on Friday and Saturday will be €20 and students and OAPs will be admitted from €12 with valid ID. Children under 12 years of age will be admitted free of charge but they must be accompanied by an adult.