Winners all round as racing at Thurles resumes

If records are to be believed, the first official horseracing meet at Thurles occurred in 1732. The racecourse has been an indelible part of the fabric of the town for close to three hundred years. And yet throughout those three centuries it has probably never endured a year as tragic or as torrid as 2025.

Last February, the whole racing and broader sporting world was plunged into shock following the death of jockey Michael O’Sullivan after a fall at the course. Then in August, it looked like the story of Thurles Racecourse had abruptly drawn to a close. The owners of the track, the Molony family, announced its immediate closure.

Locals were shocked. The industry was up in arms. Everybody from Thurles residents to champion trainer Willie Mullins lamented the decision. Thurles, Mullins said, “always had beautiful ground in the winter,” when other tracks didn’t. In other words, when the cold was biting and other tracks were at their worst, Thurles was at its best. Not anymore. Ireland’s only privately-owned racetrack was closing. It was over.

And then, a ray of hope. On September 18th it was announced that Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) would take operational responsibility for the track and work in conjunction with the Molony family to allow the 2025/26 season to take place.

At the heart of the plan was Peter Roe, the Head of Racing of the four HRI Racecourses, and Jessica Cahalan, the point of contact for Thurles. On this nippy Thursday afternoon, with all roads into Thurles garlanded with leaves and a slight chill of winter in the air, Jessica is in jovial spirits. She’s zipping around the concourse taking care of things but is more than happy to converse. Thurles Racecourse is alive again and Jessica, you could say, is the beating heart behind it all.

“It’s absolutely wonderful to be able to welcome everyone back here,” Cahalan said.

“The Molony family have been wonderful - I’m working with them, with the support of Peter Roe and Horse Racing Ireland.

“It was so important to get Thurles back, to get it back up and running. And there’s a lovely crowd here.”

Punters and bookies

Walk through the metallic blue gates, continue up along the concrete pavilion and the first sight that greets you is a horde of punters and bookies, all doing their business in the shadow of the stand.

Today is a flat meeting - the only one of the season in Thurles. The other ten meeting, including this Thursday, are national hunt meets. Thurles, as a racetrack, is famed for its good, firm ground and general durability in winter. According to Jessica, it’s the perfect litmus test for horses with high ambitions, particularly at the turn of the year when the build-up to Cheltenham is kicking into gear.

“If you can win in Thurles, you can win anywhere,” she added.

“It’s a good, challenging track and come January, there’ll be winners here that will go on to Cheltenham later on in the year. It’s a really good track, it’s just great.”

Those who have gathered in Thurles on this autumn afternoon are here for two reasons: either they’re racing enthusiasts, who just love the sport and would travel to every last corner of the country and beyond in search of a meet; or they’re here to support the track. James Riordan, from Knocklong in Limerick is not, as they say, a betting man, but he has an analytical eye and loves to assess the two-year-olds, to see which horses are emerging for the future. He holds Thurles in high regard, rating it as the best in the county - which is a high bar, in Tipperary.

“There’s three courses in Tipperary - Thurles, Clonmel, and Tipperary, and I’d say of the three of them, Thurles is the best - by a long shot,” he admitted.

“It’s a good course. There’s a great coat of grass out there.”

Pat O’Riordan and Bobby Cotter have watched horses plough around the undulating terrain for the best part of 55 years. It is “a lovely track, a grand track”, Bobby chirps. Pat informs me that the two men “never miss a gig” and he himself even had a recent winner here - the suitably named ‘There’ll be good days yet’. And there will, Pat predicts.

First-timers

The majority of the people here are seasoned racing aficionados, but there are first-timers too. Take Daisy & Ivy Seymour, two young sisters with striking bright red hair and broad smiles. Their attention is diverted by two delicious looking chocolate muffins, but they’re keeping an eye on the racing as well, from their perch at the top of the stand. Their resemblance is such that they could be mistaken for twins but their grandmother, Dromineer woman Michelle Connolly, quickly interjects to say there is in fact an age gap. Standing with Michelle is trainer Philip Byrne, who’s relatively satisfied after watching his own Slaney Swagger finish a creditable third in the 2:55 race. He has fond words for Jessica Cahalan, but he also draws attention to the service Thurles provides to trainers like him.

“It's a brilliant track,” Byrne said.

“Jess Cahalan has done a great job to get it open today. It has always been a really well run track, as far as the trainers are concerned. It’s got great ground all year round and it’s a great asset to have - because we can run school races and train our horses behind the scenes as well. No other racecourse provides that.”

Thurles is, and always has been, a family track. The Molony’s had been at the helm for over a hundred years but just from visiting you get the sense that this small rural racetrack, a stone’s throw away from Semple Stadium on the outskirts of the town, is a venue that the wider horse racing family cherishes.

The story of the day last Thursday was, of course, the success of Ballycahill trainer Mark Molloy, whose horse ‘Tickling’ roared home in the Welcome Back to Thurles Handicap. It was the high point of an afternoon in which Thurles Racecourse came back to life.

“Listen, Thurles is a very special place for me,” Molloy said.

“I used to disappear from primary school before lunch and come here as a very young child. I’ve been coming here all my life. So especially after the events of the past year, it’s just magic to come here. It means a lot.”