skip to main content

Fairyhouse Winter Festival to begin on Saturday after inspection

The Fairyhouse Winter Festival will begin on Saturday as planned
The Fairyhouse Winter Festival will begin on Saturday as planned

The Winter Festival at Fairyhouse has been given the all-clear to begin on Saturday after an early morning inspection.

The inspection took place at 7.30am after low overnight temperatures and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board is now satisfied that Saturday's racing can go ahead as scheduled.

An IHRB statement said: "Following an inspection this morning, Fairyhouse is fit for racing and the fixture scheduled for today, Saturday, 2 December, goes ahead as scheduled.

"The ground at Fairyhouse is now soft, yielding to soft in places (Hurdle/Bumper) and remains soft (Chase) with temperatures of three to four degrees today."

Saturday's Coral Gold Cup card at Newbury will also go ahead as planned following a precautionary inspection.

The entire track was covered again after racing on Friday and was reported to be frost free underneath at inspection time.

Officials will, however, continue to monitor conditions with a further drop in temperatures expected before day break.

Racing also got the go-ahead at Doncaster after a 9am inspection.

Bangor also passed an inspection for its all-hurdle card.

Leicester were due to inspect at 11.30am for Sunday's fixture but will now have a look at 8am on raceday.

Additional reporting: PA.

Watch the Fairyhouse Winter Festival on Sunday from 1.10pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player

Read Next