The going was heavy at Leopardstown yesterday, and that was only in the car park. The recent heavy rain created conditions worthy of the ploughing championships. A giant beech tree snapped at its base near the Ballyogan entrance was one of many reminders of the Christmas Eve gales.
But the Leopardstown show went on, and the enduring appeal of St Stephen's Day racing coaxed 16,000 people away from their firesides - only slightly down on last year, when Danoli was the draw.That inveterate racegoer Charlie McCreevy was there, and his slimmed-down figure suggested a clue to the popularity of the post-Christmas meetings: it might just be the desire to do penance after the season's indulgences, or at least lose a little weight, that drives so many people out.
If so, yesterday's attendance wasn't disappointed. Despite the pale sunshine, it was still the sort of weather in which you can burn a lot of calories just by standing still. As always, the weight loss started in the wallet area.
The attendance splurged £1.2 million and, on the evidence of the early exchanges, didn't get much of it back. As early as the second race, prospects looked as bleak as the midwinter itself when trainer Arthur Moore - on the way to a hat-trick - sent home the 14-to-1 winner Lord Dal, followed in by the equally unconsidered Sawa-Id.
Punters brave enough to have backed that 1-2 on the Tote were rewarded with odds of 1,028-to-1 but, if they existed at all, they kept quiet. Without the help of Arthur Moore's Alamanac, the rest had to scour the form guide for omens. In this respect, a filly called Windy Bee looked like a certainty in the Move Over Butter Handicap. And indeed, backed by a smart south-westerly breeze, it hurtled into a big lead at the start of the back straight.
But, by the end of the back straight, Windy Bee was suddenly becalmed. Pulling first into the slow lane and then the hard shoulder as the glue-like conditions showed, it finished the race walking. Meanwhile, a sardonic comment on the difficulties of reading form was provided by the winner, a horse called No Avail, which galloped home to few cheers at 14 to 1. With the other two giants of Irish jump-racing - Doran's Pride and Imperial Call - not clashing here until tomorrow, the meeting was a bit short on equine glamour. So it was move over Leopardstown at 2.20 p.m. when the crowds flocked to the TV monitors to see One Man's defeat in Kempton's King George. The break seemed to do us good, because in the next race - the day's feature - Dardjini followed the hoof-prints of Danoli last year, raising cheers in the grandstand. It was nothing like the reception that greeted his illustrious predecessor, but at a well-backed 100-to-30, it was a popular enough winner.
But the bookies might have given longer odds than that on some cars getting out of the car parks without a tow.
