Thurles Racecourse to close with immediate effect

The news came as a surprise to Kevin Blake who spoke to the Nick Luck Daily Podcast, saying: "It definitely is [a surprise].

"Thurles is a big track in Irish racing. It's the only privately owned racecourse in Ireland. They've got fixtures locked in going forwards; there was no indication that this was coming.

"It'll cause a major shock to Irish racing and the wider racing world. Owned by the Malony family for, I think, over 100 years, it's a massive shock.

"Pierce Malony was Mr Thurles for forever and he passed away about a decade ago and his wife, his daughters have taken it on. It's the most incredibly homely racecourse when you go racing there. You go racing at Thurles and there's no frills, no one would pretend there is, but Thursdays at Thurles, during the winter in particular, would be seen as a real centre of the grassroots of Irish racing. It has a phenomenal ability to take rain and would have been seen as a massive asset for Irish racing in times when the weather wasn't good because they can race there when other places just cannot.

"So, from a very practical, hard-nosed point of view, it will be a massive loss to Irish racing but it will be a huge loss in a wider sense because so many people hold it very fondly.

"But you wish the Malony family well. They've made a huge contribution to Irish racing over the course of 100 years, essentially more, and it's a very sad day but you're also very thankful for everything that Thurles has done for racing and for the Malony family and you wish them well in whatever they do but it can't help but be sad as to how this played out; it's such a shock."

Riona Malony announced the family's decision on Friday morning, saying: “It has been an honour and a privilege for our family to have run Thurles Racecourse, and I am officially announcing our retirement today. We are very proud of the immense contribution our family has made to racing and we are most grateful to our extended racecourse family, our dedicated staff, generous sponsors, loyal patrons and the wider racing community for all your support. Horse-racing is part of the fabric of our family, and we have been very fortunate to have made so many great friends within the industry over the years. My family and I look forward to going racing with you again, as spectators.”

She continued, “Since my beloved husband Pierce passed away in 2015, with the help of our four daughters Patricia, Helen, Ann Marie and Kate and our wonderful staff, we’ve managed to keep the show on the road and I know he would be very proud of us for that. The girls all have their own families, careers and lives to live. Ever increasing industry demands and the cost of doing business has also been a major factor.”

Malony confirmed that Thurles will not be taking up its allocated fixtures, adding: “We’re going to enjoy this time together and relax now the decision is made and the news is out before we consider our options.”

The first ever recorded race-meeting at Thurles took place in 1732 and it has been in the hands of the Molony family since the early 1900’s. Riona’s late husband Pierce took over from his father Doctor Paddy Molony in 1974, and together with their family they have worked hard at the business for the last 50 years.

'Never quite the same again'

by Mike Vince

News of the immediate closure of a quite unique part of the Irish Racecourse family has come as a shock to many, but Thurles Racecourse, where records show racing dated back to the 18th century, was the only privately-owned track in Ireland.

The Molony family have called time having run it for 10 years since Pierce - husband and father - known as ‘Mr Thurles' lost a battle with cancer.

So ends the sport at a venue which was, half jokingly described by some as Ireland’s first all weather track - that part of County Tipperary seeming to provide raceable ground no matter how much snow and rain was falling to the north, south, east and west of it.

The track, a mile and a quarter circuit, has been predominately a jumps venue and in the last decade one of its feature chases, the Kinloch Brae, was won in consecutive seasons by Don Cossack (2016) and Sizing John (2017), who then went on to land the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

It was never short of runners.

In December 2018 a certain Honeysuckle won a Listed Mares Novice Hurdle at the course. But Thurles would often appear in quizzes and the like about a flat race it staged in March of 1992, won by a horse called Legal Steps and trained by Jim Bolger.

The reason? The jockey was a then unheard of teenager with the first success of his career named AP McCoy.

Sadly, though it was in February of this year at Thurles that jockey Michael O’Sullivan took the fall in a pile up that cost him his life.

Thurles was a Thursday staple diet for the Irish jumps community in the winter months with a highlight of a meeting the weekend before Christmas.

It also has a Supporters Club who will be devastated by today's news, which illustrates just what is involved in running a racecourse.

Irish racing will never be quite the same again.

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