Irish Horse Racing

On the drive down to Killarney from Dublin, we took a slight detour to visit the Irish National Stud. Got to see the retired geldings (https://irishnationalstud.ie/attraction/living-…) frolicking like they were foals again and some incredibly famous stud horses. If I didn’t know it before, this place confirmed that Ireland takes its horse racing verrrry seriously. Donny said that owning horses is so attractive because all the profits are tax free. That said, actually making a profit is incredibly rare but still…its enticing.

This particular week in Killarney is special to the Foy family because it’s the last of 3 racing festivals at the Killarney Racecourse, which the family always attended growing up and holds great memories all around. It’s a beautiful little track with a golf course in the middle, but big enough to put on an 8-10 race card for a few days a few times a year. Tickets were a bit harder to come by due to Covid attendee limitations but we all descended on the course on Thursday for an afternoon/evening of flat racing and betting.

Much fun was had as we all compared horses, tried to look up tips on the internet, timed our bets with the 3 bookmakers, meandered over to the parade ring to admire the horses up close, and then headed up into the stands or to the rail to watch the race. I managed to lose my entire stake over the course of the meeting, but a few of our group placed some great bets and were all smiles.Read more