04 Irish Racing / Betfair Education / 04 February 2009 / Leave a comment

The town is famous for the 'Rose of Tralee' festival, but that beauty contest originally started off as a side-show to the racing festival.

Horse racing took place at various places in the area until it finally settled in its present location in the late 1890s. The site was formerly owned by Kerry's famous son - Irish Patriot Daniel O'Connell. The main race of the year is the Guinness Gold Cup Premier Handicap which usually attracts a competitive field. Tralee is a left-handed, circle shaped undulating course which is one mile and two furlongs in distance. The track is quite sharp but the fences on the chase course don't pose too many problems.

Trainer Paul Nolan has shown a reasonable record here at 20% over the past five years, and has proved profitable to follow. Jockey wise, Paul Carberry has shown a strike-rate of 22% and a good level stakes profit in recent times.

Favourite backers should be cautious at Tralee, as it ranks nearer the bottom of the table for winning jollies. Flat favourites show a strike-rate of 27.6%, with that figure very similar over jumps at 27.8%.

Previous course form is insignificant on the flat with just 7.7% going on to win on their return. Over jumps however, that figure is much higher at 15.5%. In fact, that's the highest win-rate in Ireland for previous course winners and has shown a slight profit over the past five years.