LOADS OF LIFFORD NEWS
Ian Fortune
These are exciting times at Lifford ahead of the grand reopening in the coming weeks.
Preparations continue at the Donegal venue and recent trial sessions have been hugely encouraging. Of course, they have been posting the public trial sessions on YouTube and they can be found at the link: https://www.youtube.com/@liffordgreyhounds
Since last week, those in charge have been speaking with owners and trainers and they have made changes to the trial schedule as a result. Publics will run on a Tuesday from 11:30am to 12:30pm, with no specified weigh in time. Those wishing to trial need only turn up during the allotted time.
A second private trial session has been added, starting at 1pm on Tuesday afternoons. These will be offered on a first come, first served basis. There will be no bookings.
Paul Murphy, the Racing manager, has suggested that “things are very busy at the stadium these days. Everyone is working hard and we are on schedule for opening. There is an open night this evening (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday) evening to recruit staff for the bars and restaurant. Anyone interested should check out the "the Old Docks Bar and Grill" in Derry on Facebook.”
Paul also suggested they will be advertising some graded stakes for the Friday evening meetings, while they have announced they open races for the evening of the grand Reopening on Sunday, April 2nd.
They are seeking entries for four open races, boasting some mighty impressive prizemoney. There is an Open 325yd (SS0) contest worth €750 to the winner, an Open 525 (AA0) and an Open 575 (AA0), both of which will be worth €1,000 to the winner, while a superb €1,500 will go to the winner of the Open 550 (AA0).
Those wishing to have a runner on the night should contact the racing office.