Seeking Outside Information

robert99

Hi,

I am a new member from England who is also keen on Irish racing.
Have visited a few courses and the National Stud but have found some racecourse information very difficult to obtain. Does anyone have a list of the actual heights of the Irish and Northern Irish racecourses above sea level? Does anyone have information on the soil types clay, chalk etc of the courses and how well they drain? I have worked out that Laytown and Dundalk are quite sandy. This all gives an idea as to how the weather might effect the going and so on.

Robert

rynners

I'll state the obvious.
Laytown is at sea level and a sand/beach course.
Galway is probably very close to sea level..
Don't know anything about any of the others really.. maybe I'm mistaken though but I don't think there's any course at a height in Ireland.

mike65

I guess you need a map of Ireland with the courses marked and then a soil profile of same, Google Earth will give you altitude

Gowan Park is between 69 and 86 metres, north to south for example

Here is where you can get soil information, does not work in Opera broswer.

http://maps.epa.ie/InternetMapViewer/mapviewer.aspx

Mike

rynners

mike65 wrote: »

I guess you need a map of Ireland with the courses marked and then a soil profile of same, Google Earth will give you altitude

Gowan Park is between 69 and 86 metres, north to south for example

Mike

good thinking mike

Morgans

rynners wrote: »

I'll state the obvious.
Laytown is at sea level and a sand/beach course.
Galway is probably very close to sea level..
Don't know anything about any of the others really.. maybe I'm mistaken though but I don't think there's any course at a height in Ireland.

Bellewstown is on the side of a hill. Crocafutha I think.

All in all

Dundalk you mention is all weather so standard going there.

robert99

Thanks to one and all for your helpful replies.
So glad I found this site as was getting nowhere before.

franny1

rynners wrote: »

I'll state the obvious.
Laytown is at sea level and a sand/beach course.
Galway is probably very close to sea level..
Don't know anything about any of the others really.. maybe I'm mistaken though but I don't think there's any course at a height in Ireland.

Galway is probably close to sea level rynners alright but dont forget the massive hill as the horses turn for home

robert99

Hi,
A further racecourse query about work at Wexford.
I read that Horse Racing Ireland had recently approved a grant for a track extension to incorporate a new bend into the straight and also that an extension of track was in progress to one mile three and half furlongs. It seems Wexford Council refused planning for early works in March 2008 – wanted land for housing?

Was this work ever completed and what did it entail in the end for changes to the course?

rynners

robert99 wrote: »

Hi,
A further racecourse query about work at Wexford.
I read that Horse Racing Ireland had recently approved a grant for a track extension to incorporate a new bend into the straight and also that an extension of track was in progress to one mile three and half furlongs. It seems Wexford Council refused planning for early works in March 2008 – wanted land for housing?

Was this work ever completed and what did it entail in the end for changes to the course?

i don't know the answer to this, it may not have done as a new bend would make it even tighter .. and i'm told it's the tightest track in the country.

robert99

Has anyone scanned the Irish racecourse maps that are sometimes available in the paper copy of Racing Post? They do not seem available on their website or anywhere else. If anyone could email me a set of the jpgs would be much obliged.

wb

robert99 wrote: »

Has anyone scanned the Irish racecourse maps that are sometimes available in the paper copy of Racing Post? They do not seem available on their website or anywhere else. If anyone could email me a set of the jpgs would be much obliged.

Not sure about the RP maps, but you can get maps and course info from the timeform site:

http://form.horseracing.betfair.com/timeform

Here's Leopardstown for example:

robert99

Thanks wb.
The Timeform maps are helpful but there are several omissions.
The Racing post paper maps have the hurdle and chase courses marked separately.