Events / Wayne Bailey / 05 September 2007 /

Irish racing expert Wayne Bailey on Europe's only beach meeting under rules

Not all readers will be familiar with Laytown, despite the fact that racing has taken place there since 1876. All those years ago, the local parish priest founded a meeting that is arguably one of the most unique in Ireland or Britain. The racing takes place on the beach beside the sea and sadly, its uniqueness lies in the fact that is the last beach meeting under rules in Europe.

The main reason that many punters are unfamiliar with Laytown is because racing takes place there only one a year, usually in September. That time of the year has come again, and Thursday sees a six card meeting set to begin at roughly 14:15, provided the tide is fully out by then (I kid you not).

Some readers may be familiar with Laytown already unknown to themselves: If you saw the movie "The Crying Game", you may remember some scenes on a beach, which I've recently found out was Laytown, although that's probably not the scene that stands out in most peoples' minds!

The races themselves are restricted to six and seven furlongs and take place over a straight course. On raceday morning, the area is closed off and steps are cut into the sand dunes to form a makeshift grandstand. It's not uncommon for ten thousand people or more to show up so marquees are erected and act as bars, weigh in rooms, changing rooms etc and are later dismantled for another year.

While low numbers have done well historically, this may be simply coincidence. Punters often argue about the draw at Laytown, but if the truth were told, there is not enough data to analyse due to the infrequency of racing here. More importantly, the fact that everything is dismantled afterwards means that there is no guarantee that the exact stretch of track will be used the following year.

Similarly, it's hard to take anything solid from the stats due to the infrequency of meetings, so relying on recent jockey form would probably be a better indicator when making your selections, rather than looking at stats for the course itself.

When it comes to trainers at Laytown however, Patrick Martin, who is based nearby is always worth noting. In fact, blindly backing his horses here over the years shows a marginal profit to starting prices, which would have been increased by using Betfair. He was unlucky the past two years with some near misses, but with eight horses declared at time of writing, I've no doubt he'll be looking to make amends in 2007. It's rare enough for his horses not to be thereabouts at Laytown, so there may be some value in Betfair's place market.

Mick Halford also has a profitable record here with a couple of wins and plenty of places over the years. He only has one horse entered this year, namely Le Reveur in the 16:15.

As a spectacle Laytown should not be missed. However, it's not simply a novelty event and shouldn't be ignored by punters simply because of its infrequency. In fact, the lack of regular racing here often adds to the value available on certain horses as they don't come heavily bogged down with track and draw stats.

It only happens one a year, so stick it in the diary and enjoy what is truly a unique meeting, both as a spectacle and for betting purposes.

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