The new owners of the Waterford and Tramore racecourse are hoping to revive the glory days of horse-racing with this week's four-day August festival meeting which opens tomorrow at the refurbished track. Racing at the resort town of Tramore has had an eventful history stretching back two centuries and including epic battles against the encroaching sea and against pressure for housing development.
The first Tramore races were held in 1785, just five years after the first Derby was held at Epsom. Early meets were held on the strand of Tramore but were surrounded by gala social functions in the local hotels and hostelries.
They became so popular that by 1807 a six-day event was held. In deference to the large fox-hunting fraternity, steeplechasing was introduced at a variety of local venues over the years, but in the 1870s a permanent course was laid out at the Back Strand, where the annual festival grew in popularity.
However, a regular battle had to be fought with the sea, which several times breached the embankment in winter storms and finally ended the use of the Back Strand circuit. Before long another racetrack was built on higher ground at Graum Hill and the festival resumed in 1912.
In the 1980s there was more pressure on the event, and a Friends of Tramore Racecourse campaign was mounted to save the course. There was also an attempt to turn the site over to development, but the planning application for 300 houses was refused by the county council.
The racetrack facilities had been in decline, but recently the course was bought for £750,000 by a local business consortium, which has now been joined by some 60 shareholders and is undergoing a £500,000 development. Bars and refreshment areas have been refurbished, the public viewing areas have been exten ded, new saddling boxes have been added and the parade ring capacity increased. Ramp access has been provided and cabling has been placed underground.
New facilities for this week's meet will include a 1,000capacity marquee. Sponsorship has been secured for all 28 races on the four days. The meet aims to raise £50,000 for local charities. The seaside town is expecting an influx of many thousands for the meeting.
The Tramore races were a premier event on the social calendar in the 1960s and 1970s, and the aim is to restore them to that position. Racecourse secretary and director Karl Casey says there is widespread excitement locally.
It is in keeping with the new popularity of the smaller tracks, which some Tramore shareholders believe will eventually become the backbone of racing.