Killarney Racecourse is a dual purpose racecourse situated in Killarney, County Kerry. Killarney is a popular tourist attraction in Ireland and is well known for its mountainous terrain and picturesque scenery. Killarney Racecourse is no different. It is situated beside Ross Golf Club and Lough Leane with a view of Ross Castle beyond the back straight. Killarney host 11 race days over 3 Festivals throughout the year
The feature race of the year is the listed Ruby Stakes which is held over 1m and 20 yards. It is scheduled to take place every August.
Killarney Racecourse characteristics
Killarney racecourse is a left handed, oval shaped track. The circumference of the track is roughly 10f. The first turn is quite sharp but the remainder of the course is a long winding U shaped turn that leads into the back straight, which itself is at a slight turn. There are 6 fences on the chase track which are quite straightforward. The chase course is situated on the outside of the hurdle track. There are 3 flights on the home straight on both the hurdle and chase course
For course information and going reports on the day, Killarney Racecourse provide updates on the Killarney Twitter account .
Is there a pace bias at Killarney Racecourse?
Killarney is considered quite a fair track due to its long straights but generally there is a pace advantage at Killarney when racing prominently on the flat track. The shortest trip on the flat track is the 1m 110 yard start which begins in a little chute that joins the track and leads into the first sharp turn. Handicap races over the 1m 110y and 1m3f distances would suggest there is slight edge towards front/prominent runners whereas non-handicap races would see the bias increase to those that race towards the fore.
Although there is no real profitable angle in terms of pace alone, 57% of the winners of all races from 1m 110y to 1m 3f have come from the front runners or prominent racers. There is nearly always going to be less runners in that group in comparison to those held up in mid-division or in rear. On firm to good ground however, the front bias becomes stronger. In fact, front runners have produced a win P&L of 26.10 on ground considered good or better.
Similar to the flat track, front runners fare the best on the jumps track showing a pace bias at Killarney Racecourse once again. Front runners are profitable to follow in 8+ runner handicaps on both the hurdle and chase course. The stats are fairly consistent across the board in that front runner or prominent racers fare better than held up runners.
The chase course produces better figures than the hurdle course (8+ runner handicaps show a +86.50 Win P&L). There is a long run from the 4th last to the 3rd last on the straight. The last 3 hurdles/fences then come quite quickly so ideally you would want your horse positioned prominently at this stage of the race.
Is there a draw bias at Killarney Racecourse?
There are no races at less that 1 mile 110 yards at Killarney so pace is generally a bigger factor on the flat. The lower stalls are positioned closer to the inside rail so ideally you don’t want to be positioned high over the mile trip due to the first sharp turn, especially if there is pace drawn mid to low.
Lower draws perform slightly better than mid positioned stalls at Killarney and higher draws generally have the lowest win rate. It is however noticeable that on good ground or better, a lower draw bias increases, especially with fields with more than 8 runners. In all 8+ runner races over the mile trip on good ground, lower stalls have performed twice as well as higher stalls (the win percentage heat map for 8+ runner races all races over 1 mile can be found below).
This good ground draw bias coupled with the good ground pace bias is certainly an angle to monitor going forward. All positive positions above in green collectively have a win P&L of 55.52.
Who are the top trainers at Killarney Racecourse?
Killarney racecourse hosts racing over both codes so let's look at the top trainer stats at Killarney for each code separately:
Top flat racing trainers at Killarney
Willie Mullins has the best trainer strike rate at Killarney (31.37%) since 2009 and he has also been profitable to follow with a win P&L of 7.49.
JJ Murphy has been the most profitable to follow with a win P&L of 111.25 (win rate 14.61%).
Dermot Weld does notably well at Killarney with a strike rate of 27.56% and win P&L of 19.78. In handicaps only, JJ Murphy has a win P&L of 141.25 and win rate of 18.71%.
Willie Mullins also has the best strike rate in handicaps (25%).
Top jumps racing trainers at Killarney
Willie Mullins again tops the charts here with a win rate of 23.81%.
He is closely followed by Charles Byrnes at 22.58% and Joseph O’Brien at 22.22%.
Thomas Mullins has the highest win P&L at Killarney with 35.0 (38.0 in handicaps alone).
Enda Bolger has the best strike rate in handicap only races with a strike rate of 25%. Thomas Mullins is close behind at 24.14%.
Who are the top jockeys at Killarney Racecourse?
Once again we'll examine the top jockeys at Killarney individually by code just as we did for the best trainers at Killarney:
Top flat racing jockeys at Killarney
As well as being one of the top trainers at Killarney, Joseph O’Brien has the best win rate as a jockey with 22.47%. He is now retired from the saddle though so as far as the current jockeys riding at Killarney are concerned, Colin Keane at 20% strike rate is one of the most profitable to follow with a win P&L of 49.31.
That figure is only bettered by Declan McDonagh who has a win P&L of 62.47.
Colin Keane has the best strike rate in handicaps (19.74%) and also has the highest win P&L (44.0).
Top jumps racing jockeys at Killarney
Patrick Mullins has the best win rate (27.78%) out of the national hunt jockeys at Killarney racecourse.
Patrick Mullins is followed in second by Darragh O’Keefe (25.93%) and Ruby Walsh (now retired) in third (25.44%).
Mark Walsh has a win rate of 19.18% and a win P&L of 37.67 and is one of the most experienced jockeys at Killarney.
Darragh O’Keefe has the best strike rate in handicaps with a win rate of 28.57%.
Former jockey, David Casey was the most profitable to follow at Killarney with a win P&L of 30.25. Mark Walsh is the best of the current jockeys at 27.75.
*All figures in this article are correct as of 14/09/2020
Date | Runner | Jockey | Trainer | SP |
---|---|---|---|---|
07 Oct 17:15 | Cast A Spell | Billy Lee | T Hogan | 5/4 |
07 Oct 16:40 | Abbey Actress | James Ryan | J S O'Donoghue | 4/1 |
07 Oct 16:05 | Get | Wayne Lordan | A O'Brien | 9/2 |
07 Oct 15:30 | Sea Chariot | Colin Keane | J J Murphy | 100/30 |
07 Oct 14:55 | Martinelli | Colin Keane | K Cotter | 8/1 |
07 Oct 14:20 | Castanets | Dylan Browne McMonagle | J O'Brien | 11/4 |
07 Oct 13:45 | Tangapour | Colin Keane | J Murtagh | 7/4 |
06 Oct 17:10 | Inchidaly Copper | Mr L Burke-Ott | A Ott | 5/1 |
06 Oct 16:35 | Brave Adam | T Joseph Kelly | T Cooper | 14/1 |
06 Oct 16:00 | Jack Holiday | Philip Byrnes | D Christie | 6/1 |
Jockey | Wins | Runs | SR |
---|---|---|---|
Colin Keane | 7 | 24 | 29.2% |
Dylan Browne McMonagle | 5 | 20 | 25.0% |
Paul Townend | 4 | 9 | 44.4% |
Billy Lee | 4 | 20 | 20.0% |
Shane Foley | 4 | 27 | 14.8% |
Phillip Enright | 3 | 14 | 21.4% |
Rachael Blackmore | 3 | 18 | 16.7% |
J J Slevin | 3 | 15 | 20.0% |
Wayne Lordan | 3 | 12 | 25.0% |
Gary Carroll | 2 | 14 | 14.3% |
Trainer | Wins | Runs | SR |
---|---|---|---|
J O'Brien | 8 | 43 | 18.6% |
W Mullins | 8 | 24 | 33.3% |
G Elliott | 5 | 40 | 12.5% |
A O'Brien | 5 | 14 | 35.7% |
H De Bromhead | 4 | 25 | 16.0% |
A Slattery | 3 | 12 | 25.0% |
E Bolger | 3 | 11 | 27.3% |
R O'Sullivan | 3 | 8 | 37.5% |
G Cromwell | 3 | 28 | 10.7% |
E O'Grady | 2 | 11 | 18.2% |