2015 Irish Derby Fiasco

KildareKid

Was anyone at the Irish Derby on Saturday? I had to post this thread out of sheer frustration. I had planned a nice day out with my wife and some friends but we hardly got a chance to talk to each other all day due the amount of time it took to get a drink and food. 40 mins was the average time it took us to get served in the upstairs bar, everyone was complaining about it. Same thing when we went for a bag of chips, over a half wait for that too. Thinking that was bad but, I met another friend of mine later who said it took him an hour and a half to get a beer in the downstairs bar and he missed 2 races because of it. It really was a fiasco and it took a lot of the enjoyment of the day out of it for us. What was the reason for this? We didn’t have this problem last year. There was definitely more or a choice last year but this year it seemed to be all Heineken (not everyone likes Heineken either) With the huge money spinner that the Irish Derby is, you would think they would have enough money to pay for a few more staff wouldn’t you? Is there anyone else that had a similar experience?

Richard Hillman

Absolutely shocking. I twice gave up on trying to get a pint. The reason why there were so many bottles laying around was that people were just stock piling up on bottles when they did get to the bar.

It was the first time I have been at the Curragh. I think it is a fantastic set up but it makes Leopardstown on Stephen's Day look like a old man's pub.

I'll be returning but I will be bringing more alcohol in with me the next time.

Stacksey

Dont ever go to the racing in Down Royal then, its a disgrace, left the races due to sheer frustration and will never return. Leopardstown is by far the best run when it comes to getting drink/food

Ian Whelan

Stacksey wrote: »

Leopardstown is by far the best run when it comes to getting drink/food

I second that. Wexford Park is also spot on.

dimana

Totally agree - disgrace. Queues were dire and choice of drink awful. I am a cider drinker and they only had a new brand called Orchard thieves from Heineken. There is nothing wrong with having a new drink available but to be the only one is a huge mistake. It is a very sweet cider which made me feel quite sickly after the second. If there are any organisers reading this please bring back bulmers (esp light) for next year. Also the last time I was there they had separate stalls selling lager - think it was Creans and this was popular with the beer/lager drinkers and took a lot of volume from the huge queues.

KildareKid

In response to Richard, yeah you could stock up when you eventually do get to the bar but then you're left carrying them and by the time you get through the first one, the others are lukewarm, not ideal either.

robo

It was my first time at Derby day (was at the Curragh loads of times & was there Friday & Sunday also). The queues did seem to be mad around the bars. But what was quiet scary was all the bottle (full & empty) that people left on the stands and then they rolled down & smashed when the gusts of wind came. I was surprised that no one was injured.
Great atmosphere though, except when it rained.

byronbay2

Yeah - totally agree, the Derby seems to have gone badly downhill in the past couple of years. It was bad last year and absolutely no improvement this year. I was so annoyed, I even sent a lengthy email to their website this morning - I normally couldn't be arsed. I would advise others to do the same.

The bars were so understaffed it was a joke. Like others, I twice left the queue to avoid missing a race. Not only is this annoying for punters but it must be costing The Curragh a fortune in lost revenue - having a well-staffed bar at a major sporting event is economics 101!

There is also the problem with rubbish. Some of the bins near the grandstand were full before the second race but were never emptied. This led to a lot of rubbish strewn and flying around the place. I saw one girl collecting rubbish but she was completely overwhelmed. Again, completely understaffed. The new phenomenon of English groups coming over to the Derby for party and stag weekends is also a pain in the arse. Videoing themselves while they scream out inane chants! They seemed to have a habit of accidentally breaking glass bottles with the result that there was broken glass on the steps of the stands and around the standing areas. This is an accident/lawsuit waiting to happen but (again) I saw no effort to clean up the broken glass, even though it was there for hours.

I have been going to The Derby for over 30 years but next year will be my last unless there is a significant improvement. Whoever is managing the event should be sacked!

Yorkshirerules

Totally agree with the above comments. I came over from Yorkshire to attend my first Derby in Ireland and was disgusted.

* The queues for a drink were ridiculous. There were 3 staff (trying their hardest) in the upstairs bar which could easily have catered for twice the number of staff. How can the organisers justify a 30 -40 minute wait to get a drink. Surely they knew the numbers that would be turning up and the demand for alcohol. I can only assume that the organisers are totally incompetent.

* The queues upstairs also meant that people could only get from one side of the lounge to the other by bisecting the queue and inconveniencing everybody.

* My partner is a big fan of Bulmers, which I am lead to believe is an Irish institution, so imagine mine and her disgust when we found that The IRISH Derby wasn't stocking it and the choice was limited to a sickly sweet concoction called 'Thieving' something or other. I assume this was a 'commercial' decision rather than one based on peoples preferences. Maybe the organisers could take this one stage further next year and replace Guinness with some obscure non Irish brand.

* The food queues were equally as bad with again a 30-40 minute wait.

I have been to many sporting events and was looking forward to attending my first Derby. I can only say that the great atmosphere, courtesy and good nature extended by the Irish to an overseas visitor was diminished by the awful organisation of the event

Whosthis

dimana wrote: »

Totally agree - disgrace. Queues were dire and choice of drink awful. I am a cider drinker and they only had a new brand called Orchard thieves from Heineken. There is nothing wrong with having a new drink available but to be the only one is a huge mistake. It is a very sweet cider which made me feel quite sickly after the second. If there are any organisers reading this please bring back bulmers (esp light) for next year. Also the last time I was there they had separate stalls selling lager - think it was Creans and this was popular with the beer/lager drinkers and took a lot of volume from the huge queues.

That comes down to sponsorship, Heineken would have paid a huge fee to the curragh for exclusivity at the bar.

naughto

Was there two yrs ago and the same sh1te went on mad ques for food drink the place in a tip from all the rubbish.
They don't seem to give a sh1te ounce you have paid in.
It's not on having to wait that long for food and drink.

byronbay2

Well, in fairness to The Curragh, I have received a reply to my email already. Here is part of it:

"The issues you raise are a recurring theme from Saturday and came up a number of times at our Management Meeting this morning. We are extremely disappointed at the level of service in the bars on Saturday and will be bringing it up with our caterers who staff the bars. This is not the image we wish to portray or the experience we want for our patrons. We had opened additional bars this year and had hoped we would not have these problems.

We had some issues with waste management on the day also and this has been flagged with our cleaning contractor."

I am happy with the quick reply (and with the 2 free tickets for the Oaks meeting!) - obviously, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating next year!

Ian Whelan

Guys,

I was pretty frustrated on Saturday night. I emailed them to complain and they offered me two free tickets for July 18th. Fair enough I suppose, at least they acknowledge their mistake.

Richard Hillman

It seems like they are just tendering out their services and once the contractors have fulfilled their basic requirements, that's the end of it. They will just do the bare minimum with what looked like quite inexperienced staff.

The contractors were probably paid a flat rate and hired as little staff as humanely possible to keep the costs down. They had the same stake in wether 1 person got served or 10,000+

convert

Richard Hillman wrote: »

It seems like they are just tendering out their services and once the contractors have fulfilled their basic requirements, that's the end of it. They will just do the bare minimum with what looked like quite inexperienced staff.

The contractors were probably paid a flat rate and hired as little staff as humanely possible to keep the costs down. They had the same stake in wether 1 person got served or 10,000+

It depends on the contract, but I think that those with the catering/drinks contracts will get a percentage of what's sold, too. I know it's happened elsewhere, but, as I said, it will depend on the contract. The staffing, etc. would be down to the contractors rather than the racecourse.

byronbay2

I just remembered something funny/tragic that I spotted on Saturday. In one of the bars there were 3 staff but they only had 1 bottle-opener between them!! As I watched (during my interminable wait for a pint), I often saw the other 2 staff idle while they waited for their colleague to use the bottle-opener. Talk about criminal incompetence!

KildareKid

Lol ! That's right Byronbay2. I was in the upstairs bar also and I remember something about a bottle opener, overheard the barman saying something like "Where did she leave that f****in bottle opener" Hello, its right there in front of you, Ha ! Shouldn't laugh though, I did feel sorry for him, he looked under pressure. But wouldn't you think the budget could have stretched to maybe a wall mounted opener, or maybe 2, one each side. No, that would make too much sense.

chinguetti

The Curragh has been a bit of a mess with years and the sooner they sort out the place with the proposed redevelopment, the better. Basic signage would prevent some of the crowding inside the racecourse as its one bottle neck after another due to its layout.

Most of the people there though are only going to be seen at the Derby/say they were at the Derby so they'll go regardless again next year. If the caterers are tied into a contract, they'll have to use them again whether they like it or not.

byronbay2

KildareKid wrote: »

Lol ! That's right Byronbay2. I was in the upstairs bar also and I remember something about a bottle opener, overheard the barman saying something like "Where did she leave that f****in bottle opener" Hello, its right there in front of you, Ha ! Shouldn't laugh though, I did feel sorry for him, he looked under pressure. But wouldn't you think the budget could have stretched to maybe a wall mounted opener, or maybe 2, one each side. No, that would make too much sense.

Yeah, in fairness to the staff, they worked their arses off all day, under fairly intense pressure. Some punters (particularly Northern Irish, imo) were getting pretty irate and giving them some considerable grief. I was fairly pissed off myself but managed to keep a lid on my anger! Ridiculous situation though: would have happily spent €30-40 on alcohol and only spent €12 in the end - €20 in my pocket that The Curragh could have had!

ShaneU

Felt sorry for the bar staff, completely understaffed. Heineken monopolising the drinks on offer wasn't great either, luckily I like Orchard Thieves because their lager is rank. They served Guinness upstairs but who wants to drink that out of a plastic cup? It wasn't even a full pint and charged €5.20 for it. There were two lads working in the bar only collecting empty bottles, said they didn't know how to pour a pint. And I swear there were more British people there than Irish, couldn't believe it. Bus I went there in had 50 welsh people on it.

shmeee

It was a pleasure to be there yesterday, not a queue to be seen. And as much comfort as you could ask for.

And yet they had 4 staff on upstairs in the bar ye are on about? Madness and only 3 there on Saturday.

The cider thing was a joke, Orchard Thieves in a Bulmers fridge, made me laugh.

Heineken pay for the bar rights so can sell whatever they want. Pain in the hole but that's just the way it works nowadays.

Gregk961

shmeee wrote: »

It was a pleasure to be there yesterday, not a queue to be seen. And as much comfort as you could ask for.

And yet they had 4 staff on upstairs in the bar ye are on about? Madness and only 3 there on Saturday.

The cider thing was a joke, Orchard Thieves in a Bulmers fridge, made me laugh.

Heineken pay for the bar rights so can sell whatever they want. Pain in the hole but that's just the way it works nowadays.

Off topic but the majority of outdoor events/concerts/race meetings for the summer is going to be Bulmers free. Heineken have got a sick amount of pouring rights and Diageo have the rest. At least Diageo's Cidre is somewhat drinkable, Orchard Thieves seems to be enjoyed by 1 in 10

Francie Barrett

Unless it's Leopardstown, Aintree, or Cheltenham, I don't think I will ever bother with a major race meeting again. I went to Newcastle for the Northumberland Plate and it too was a total disgrace. £30 entry in (£10 more than Cheltenham), £4.20 for a warm tin of cider (nearly €6!) and a ridiculously limited selection of drink (Guinness, Festers, John Smiths and Bulmers) that you had to queue for ages to get.

Peintre Celebre

Last time I was at the Curragh it was Irish Guineas day when Magician won none of those problems but the big screen didn't work for the race. I went to the Guineas and still haven't seen the race, what a joke. Every race was on it bar that one.


Leopardstown really is a fantastic track. Arlington Park probably the best I've ever been to

Hulk Hands

Funny difference between English and Irish racecourses. In England they have plenty of staff but are so slow and incompetent it leads to queuing all day. Cheltenham last year was like an advert for the pioneers. Have literally yet to meet one that can take two orders at once.

In Ireland, like said you have fine staff but far too few of them. You also have poor facilities and queue management which leads to even more wait time and uncomfortable areas. Both countries can learn massively from sporting events in the states where they seem to realise that having as many points of sale as possible will lead to greater sales and happier customers!! Seems quite obvious but sporting events on these shores haven't seemed to have copped on yet

diomed

It sounds like The Curragh need to get the caterers some Lidl checkout staff.
Or they need a high-speed bar, probably outdoors. Mostly in The Curragh the bars are in tight spaces, narrow corridors, close to stairs.

klairondavis

I felt sorry for the bar staff on Saturday. It was beyond belief how criminally understaffed the various bars were and they had to put up with a torrent of abuse from some irate punters.

byronbay2

Peintre Celebre wrote: »

Last time I was at the Curragh it was Irish Guineas day when Magician won none of those problems but the big screen didn't work for the race. I went to the Guineas and still haven't seen the race, what a joke. Every race was on it bar that one.

Aargh - that reminds me of another annoyance on Saturday. All day we had to listen to the announcer talking irrelevant sh*te at ridiculous volume over the tannoy (who wants that? who thinks it's a good idea?), but for the last race there was total silence for the first 3 furlongs! No warning that the horses were at the start, no "white flag", no "they're off!" and no race commentary. I take no pleasure in saying it but it really was "amateur hour" at The Curragh on Saturday.

P.S: I really hope that this non-stop talk/music over the loudspeaker is an experiment and the management quickly realise that nobody wants it.

Yorkshirerules

Speaking of further annoyances, did anyone try the fast food ? I got a snackbox (after 40 mins ) to share with my wife and we ended up jokingly fighting over the chips (and they were bland and tasteless) because the chicken was that bad, it was southern fried but the breadcrumbs were all greasy and soggy so I had to scrape it off to get at the meat. I know its fast food an you don't really expect much but it still cost a tenner I think, and who wants to eat soggy breadcrumbs anyway, vile !

Harry Angstrom

If there's ever a day to not go to The Curragh, it's Irish Derby Day. The place is always full of schmoozers, spoofers and posers.

Shemale

Agree Leopardstown is quicker but this is down to staff numbers. A good barman has his head up can juggle a few orders and ALWAYS knows who is next.

Do they really think the **** waving the money in their face is there longest.

uxiant

Leopardstown can be a bit of a nightmare on the big days. The queues for the toilets and ATMs are always huge compared to what I experienced elsewhere. Punchestown was by far the best when it came to service.

EICVD

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

If there's ever a day to not go to The Curragh, it's Irish Derby Day. The place is always full of schmoozers, spoofers and posers.

Agree with this. Went on Saturday & it was the first Derby Id been to for nearly 15 years. I was purely there for just the racing so the queues for a pint had no effect on me, it was the 'I'm only here for a piss up' crowd that would have me not bothering to go again!

BumperD

The last time I was at the curragh I was struck by how old the facilities were. And the overpowering stench of urine that greeted me at the entrance to the gents in the stand. That was about 8 yrs ago. It needs an overhaul but I guess the financials don't stack right now. Pity.

KildareKid

I personally wasn't there for a 'piss up', but my wife and I do like a couple of drinks when we go to a meeting and I don't think I should have to queue 40 minutes to get it. That's the point I'm making.

Shemale

It's the women that get rewarded for buying and then wearing clothes and huge hats that has turned me right off going to the races.

EICVD

KildareKid wrote: »

I personally wasn't there for a 'piss up', but my wife and I do like a couple of drinks when we go to a meeting and I don't think I should have to queue 40 minutes to get it. That's the point I'm making.

But you can't deny a lot of the crowd were there on a piss up? I'm not calling for a ban on alcohol to be sold at every race meeting just making the point that 'lads days out' are not fun for the regular racegoer. Take Leopardstown on Thursday evenings, about 90% of the crowd are only in for a night out & haven't a clue about racing but they're nowhere near as bad as the Derby, Punchestown & Galway ladies days & them student race days.

robo

EICVD wrote: »

But you can't deny a lot of the crowd were there on a piss up? I'm not calling for a ban on alcohol to be sold at every race meeting just making the point that 'lads days out' are not fun for the regular racegoer. Take Leopardstown on Thursday evenings, about 90% of the crowd are only in for a night out & haven't a clue about racing but they're nowhere near as bad as the Derby, Punchestown & Galway ladies days & them student race days.

I actually noticed at the last Leopardstown night (Delorentes gig) that they have now started searching people before going in for alcohol.

Francie Barrett

EICVD wrote: »

But you can't deny a lot of the crowd were there on a piss up? I'm not calling for a ban on alcohol to be sold at every race meeting just making the point that 'lads days out' are not fun for the regular racegoer. Take Leopardstown on Thursday evenings, about 90% of the crowd are only in for a night out & haven't a clue about racing but they're nowhere near as bad as the Derby, Punchestown & Galway ladies days & them student race days.

When there's drinking and gambling available, you'll always have a certain lads day out element. Don't have too much of a problem with that as long as you don't get lads shouting and roaring or interfering with other patrons.