Last month, I started my tour of Ireland’s racecourses in the ancient kingdom of Ulster by looking at Down Royal. This month I stay in the north of Ireland and head to the National Hunt track at Downpatrick.

As before, I will look briefly at the track’s location, history, and configuration and will also highlight some significant track stats.

History and Location

Downpatrick racecourse is one of only two racecourses in Northern Ireland, the other being Down Royal. Although it’s part of the United Kingdom, horse racing in the province comes under the authority of Horse Racing Ireland. Just like with Rugby Union the sport is run on an All-Ireland basis.

The racecourse has a long history and is located in idyllic countryside just one mile from the town of Downpatrick in County Down.

The first record of racing taking place in the Downpatrick area dates back to 1685 and was run under the auspices of the Down Royal Corporation of Horse breeders who had been created by King James II in the same year.

The oldest racecourse in Ireland. The Byerley Turk, one of the three foundation stallions of the thoroughbred horse, is reputed to have raced at the track in 1690 before carrying his owner Colonel Robert Byerley, to the Battle of the Boyne. Mind you he was also said to have raced at Down Royal to.

Racing has continued with a few interruptions at its present site for more than 200 years. For many years racing took place under the title County Down Hunt races and it was only after the Second World War that racing was billed as Downpatrick races.

Besides The Byerley Turk, the most famous other visitor to the racecourse has to the late Queen Mother who came to see her horse Laffy win the Ulster Grand National back in the Spring of 1962.

Incidentally Laffy wasn’t first pass the post but was awarded the race after the first past the post was subsequently disqualified for remarkably missing out a fence during the race.

Downpatrick used to host a small number of flat meetings, but they were discontinued in 2009. Today the track holds nine National Hunt meetings from March through to October and is in effect a summer jumps track.

Like many racecourses in Ireland, the track has loyal following of locals who attend the track whatever the weather. Racegoers come from further afield to attend Downpatrick’s biggest race meeting of the year the Ulster National which is held in March.

The other notable day in the racecourses calendar is Ladies Day in August which also attracts a big crowd.

Here is an interesting 2014 At The Races You Tube video tour of the racecourse:

The racecourse is easy to get to. By car it’s about 23 miles from Belfast and the journey takes approximately 48 minutes.

There is no railway station at Downpatrick so for those coming by public transport it’s a bus from the centre of Belfast. Ulster Bus run an hourly bus service from Belfast to Downpatrick which takes about 80 minutes and from Downpatrick Bus Station it’s just a brief walk to the racecourse.

For those racegoers making the long journey from Dublin the quickest way to the track is to catch a high-speed train to Belfast, stopping at Lisburn which is the closest railway station to Downpatrick.

There’s no direct bus service from Lisburn to Downpatrick so for racegoers going by train it’s a case of getting a taxi from Lisburn railway station to the racecourse which takes approximately 30 mins, and costs between £45 to £50, which isn’t too bad if there are four of you.

Otherwise it’s the train from Dublin to Belfast and then the Ulster Bus to Downpatrick.

Track Configuration

Downpatrick racecourse is a unique track that’s for sure. Only about 1m 2f round. It’s a right-handed sharp and very undulating track with a short but uphill finish.

Hurdles Course

Chase Course

Not a track for a big galloping horse given its narrowness and many turns & undulations. It’s a real ‘up and down dale’ track with the descent just after the winning post probably the steepest at any track in the world.

It’s a track where jockeyship is very important. The handier a horse can be the better. However, if they go off too quick in race it can be pay to be just off the pace. You don’t want to be too far off the pace though as overtaking isn’t easy due to the narrowness of the track.

Looking at the course chase map there are six fences on the circuit with the final two coming up very quickly before the short home straight which has an uphill finish. Given the stiffness of the finish a horse needs to have plenty of stamina to see out its race.

Most jockeys would say the fences are easy to jump but both fences and hurdles are tricky because they are jumped at an angle rather than straight.

Downpatrick Key Stats

Let’s begin by looking at some general stats at the racecourse including clear favourites, winning odds and wins at the track.

The stats below are from Jan 1st, 2015 to the time of writing (07/02/20) and cover all jump meetings at the course.

Once again, I am using the ever useful www.horseracebase.com for all the stats.

The results below contain 342 winners from 3278 runners 932 placed.

Favourites

Clear favourites have produced the following set of results:

105 winners from 308 runners 34% -41.38 A/E 0.87 209 placed 68 %

Breaking those results down into handicap & non-handicap races gives us:

Non-handicaps – 73 winners from 186 runners 39% -17.66 A/E 0.89 132 placed 71%.

Handicaps – 32 winners from 122 runners 26% -23.72 A/E 0.85 77 placed 63%.

Summary:Unlike Down Royalwhere non-handicap clear favourites win 53% of the races and you could back them blind. At Downpatrick it’s a different story as they do a lot worse. Although handicap clear favourites do win more races than they do at Down Royal.

General Stats

Odds SP: 12/1 & above.

37 winners from 1570 runners 2% -836 A/E 0.52 171 placed 11%.

Summary:Like at Down Royal horses under 12/1 dominate the races and just six winners (1%) have been returned 33/1 or bigger.

Wins At Track: 1+.

53 winners from 384 runners 14% -68.46 A/E 0.87 135 placed 35%.

Summary:Although many punters consider Downpatrick a ‘horses for courses’ track, given its uniqueness.

The stats don’t reflect it and suggest it’s an average track for previous course winners.

For example; Naas with an 18%-win strike rate is a much better course than Downpatrick for previous winners.

Trainer to Note

Noel Meade

Since the start of 2015 one in four of the trainer’s runners at Downpatrick has won performing 14% better than market expectations.

That record improves if we just focus on his runners sent off 10/1 & under in the betting and in races 2m 2f+. These qualifiers have produced the following set of results.