Tralee Racecourse
Tralee Racecourse was a horse racing venue in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. It was located at Ballybeggan Park about two miles to the north east of Tralee town centre. It ceased to operate in 2008 with fixtures transferred to other racecourses.[1]
Ballybeggan Park (formerly a deer park owned by the family of Daniel O’Connell[2][3]) became the permanent site of Tralee Racecourse in 1898.[4] The racecourse hosted a week long meeting annually in late August as part of the Rose of Tralee International Festival. Many well known racehorses have been successful here including Dawn Run (ridden by her then 62-year-old owner, Charmian Hill[5]), Vintage Crop, Desert King, Monty's Pass, Vintage Tipple and Alexandrova. There was also a nine hole golf course within the racecourse but this was closed in 2001[6][7].
In the early 2000s as the declining standard of facilities at the venue contributed to falling attendances the long-term viability of the racecourse was in doubt.[7] In the Celtic Tiger period of economic boom in Ireland the racecourse land became a valuable landbank. In 2007 a majority of the shareholders in the company that owned the racecourse voted to sell it to a property development consortium.[4][8] The last fixture took place on October 1st 2008 and the final horse race run at Tralee Racecourse was the Denny Havasnack (Q.R.) Race over two miles and one furlong won by 'P'Tit Fute'.[9] The Post-2008 Irish economic downturn meant development plans for the racecourse site were never realised[10] and it has since hosted other equestrian events such as point-to-point meetings[11][12] and pony racing.[13][14]
References
- ^ "The close of Tralee". Irish Independent. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
- ^ "Racing festival extended by additional day". The Kerryman. 11 August 2005. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
- ^ "Future of Tralee back on the table". Irish Times. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
- ^ a b "Tralee racetrack sold in €40m development deal". Irish Examiner. 1 September 2007. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
- ^ "Paddy Mullins obituary". The Guardian. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
- ^ "Ballybeggan Park". Irish Times. 20 June 2000. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
- ^ a b "Outcry at plan to sell Tralee racecourse". Irish Times. 3 July 2003. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
- ^ "Shareholders agree to sell Tralee racecourse". RTÉ Sport. 31 August 2007. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
- ^ "Full Result 6.35 Tralee - 1 October 2008". Racing Post. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
- ^ "Stack Park move on hold". The Kerryman. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
- ^ "Horse racing returns to Ballybeggan". The Kerryman. 2 February 2011. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
- ^ "Update on Tralee Point to Point". p2p.ie. May 2017. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
- ^ "Ballybeggan Course On Track For August Race Meeting". TraleeToday.ie. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 2017-07-12.
- ^ "Rose of Tralee, Ballybeggan Races 2014". PacWebTV. 21 August 2014.