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KILLARNEY Races are now worth nearly €8 million to the local economy and the company that organises the three yearly festivals insists that the estimate is on the conservative side.

Hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, bars, shops and transport service providers all report a boom during the races in May, July and August, in addition to fashion houses and hair and beauty professionals who enjoy a huge spin-off from the Queen of Fashion event in July and Ladies Day in August.

An extra day of racing was added in July – bringing the total number to 12 in the year – and a whopping €1.5 million in prizemoney was on offer for the 2018 season.

“The hope is to increase this next year, along with adding new dates to our already busy calendar,” said Killarney Race Company Chairman, Gerard Coughlan.

He said attendances for the three festivals was hugely encouraging and he thanked all patrons and sponsors who supported the races.

“We went out on a real high with a 15 per cent increase in attendance last Saturday, the closing day of the August Festival, bringing a very successful year on the track to a wonderful climax.

“Despite the drought, the course was in pristine condition for all three festivals and we would like to compliment course supervisor, Padraig Bruton, and his team for their great work,” Mr Coughlan stated.

Killarney is unique in Irish Racing in that it hosts two separate Ladies Day events. This year marked Dawn Milk’s 25th consecutive year associated with Killarney Racecourse through Queen of Fashion sponsorship in July and a new sponsor joined this year for the August Ladies Day with Simply Suits of Killarney and Cork coming on board.

Another big attraction this year was the arrival at the track, by helicopter, of newly crowned Rose of Tralee, Kirstin Mate Maher, who was making the first public appearance of her 12-month reign presenting the Killarney Advertiser Handicap winners

In keeping with the company’s customer care policy, a complimentary return shuttle bus service from the town centre to the track and back was very well received by racegoers and it assisted greatly with the overall traffic management plan in place in the town.

Behind the scenes, a new addition this year was the provision of ice baths for the competing jockeys and they were absolutely delighted with that facility.

On the racing front, there were a number of notable performers with a potential superstar winning his maiden in Killarney in July. Anthony Van Duck won by eight lengths and he has followed up since with wins in a Group 3 and, most recently, a Group 2 at the Curragh. Anthony Van Dyck is also the current ante-post favourite for the 2019 Epsom Derby.

Another impressive winner in Killarney in July was Wicklow Brave who went on to win in Galway before returning to the August festival to win again.

Peregrine Run won in Killarney in July 2017 and followed that a year and a month later to win the feature race last Saturday. Camlann, meanwhile, won in Killarney in July and followed up with a victory at the Galway festival while Espere won in Killarney in May and also tasted success in Galway.

Lizzies Champ finished second in Killarney in July and went on to win in Galway.

“Killarney has unearthed some notable performers in the past along with some household names such as Derby winner Wings of Eagles and we hope that many more superstars will perform at the track in years to come,” said Sales and Marketing Manager Peter O’Reilly.