Derby festival will be the ultimate test of Curragh facilities - boss

Bosses at the Curragh Racecourse believe that the Derby festival will be a real test of the current temporary facilities during the €70m redevelopment.

Curragh chief executive Derek McGrath believes the track is ready to host Ireland’s premier €1.5 million classic at the end of the month.

Derby Day will be all-ticket but fewer than 500 tickets are still on sale for the restricted 6,000-capacity event.

In 2015, 25,000 people were at the Derby but that dropped to over 18,000 last year.

Mr McGrath said: "“We have tweaked and adjusted after every day here, and I’m confident the system will respond to the derby challenge. But it’s true the derby is the ultimate challenge to the facilities in place. “The weather is always a tough scenario in any outdoor sport, and we can only do our best in what is an ongoing project. It’s the same in anything. I remember when Thomond Park was being developed and matches were played there, people were coming out of it drenched," he told The Irish Times.

“We can provide sufficient cover for 4,000 people at any one time. But if we get a bad day on Derby Day, then it’s going to be bad. We saw that at the Guineas. There were almost 3,000 people inside on 2,000 Guineas Day. And the following day there were 3,000 enjoying themselves outside.