Laytown Races 2024 - Horse Racing Betting in Ireland

Without any permanent facilities, the course is set up as the tide recedes on the morning of the races and temporary marquees are erected for the weight room, bars and restaurants on the site. 

During the 1950s and 1960s, horses often ran at the track as preparation for the Galway Races, with there being no all-weather surfaces in Ireland at the time. 

Nowadays, many local trainers still use the beach as a training ground and change of scene for their horses, including Gordon Elliott, who often brought the legendary Tiger Roll for a day out at the beach during his stellar career. 

Originally, races run at the venue ranged from five furlongs to two miles with a U-shaped turn at Bettystown, the neighbouring village, before horses turned back to the finish at Laytown.

But in 1994 an accident occurred when one of the horses was spooked by a river stream before bolting into the crowd.

Thereafter, many safety measures were put into place. The turn was taken away with races limited to a straight and much shorter distances, while maximum field sizes were also significantly reduced. 

What has remained the same, though, is the popularity of the meeting among locals and overseas visitors from across Europe, who are attracted to the storied heritage of the strand races. 

Jockeys like Ruby Walsh, Pat Smullen, Patrick Mullins, Colin Keane, Pat Smullen and Joseph O’Brien have all ridden winners at the track. 

And while the horse racing may lack the quality of other major festivals, crowds continue to flock to Laytown and this year promises to be no different, with an attendance of over 5,000 people expected. 

When and Where Is It On?

This year, the races will take place on Tuesday, September 12th. The first is scheduled to start at 4.45 pm, with the last beginning at 7.15 pm. 

Laytown Races is a small seaside resort in Meath, 29 miles north of Dublin. The beach itself connects with Bettystown Beach and Morningtown Beach to total a 5km stretch of sand along the coast that is a very popular tourist spot during the summer months. The home to a links golf course, a famous amusement arcade and many holiday homes, a festive atmosphere is guaranteed in the community during race week. 

Trainers To Follow?

One would not expect a British trainer to be one of the leading trainers at the Laytown Races, given that, despite its novelty, the prize money on offer is relatively modest. But Jamie Osborne has a terrific record at the track owing to the love the Melbourne 10 Racing, one of his owners, has for the meeting.

The group of ten owners, including Osborne himself, make the trip to the venue every year and seemingly send over a bigger team of horses every year.

Bagging a winner at the 2016 and the 2017 meetings, Melbourne 10 then had three winners in 2018. Their lack of representatives at the 2021 meeting was likely due to the Covid-19 restrictions, so expect the English raiders to be back in full force.

Other trainers to watch out for are often the local ones. Stamullen trainer TG McCourt has a very good strike rate at the track, while Lusk-based Ado McGuinness is also a trainer to follow on the sand.

Jockey to follow

In the last five years, Colin Keane has operated at a 25% strike rate at the track, with six winners from 24 rides. The three-time Irish champion jockey clearly rides the unique course well and his mounts should always be monitored closely in the market.

The Odds

Simply put: the odds are the expected probability of something happening. If a bookmaker prices a horse at 4/1, it means that they think that 1 in 5 times it will win the horse race. If the horse is 6/1, they think it will win 1 in 7 times. 

The odds tell punters how much they will make if their horse wins the race. So, for example, let's say we stake a €10 bet on a horse with odds of 3/1. These odds tell the punter that for every €1 they stake on this horse, if it wins the race, they will win €3. So, if they put €10 on this winning horse, they will win €30 (€10 x 3) while they will also get their stake back. 

If someone exclaims that they had a 25/1 winner, it means that for every €1 they put on the horse, they won €25!

The odds can look more complicated sometimes. For example, if the horse is 7/4 it is not as straightforward to calculate. It means though that if you stake the denominator (4) you will win the numerator (7) if your horse wins the race i.e. stake €4 on this horse and you will win €7. If you stake €8, for example, you will win €14, and so on. 

This is the fractional odds format that is the most commonly used in Irish horse racing. There is also Decimal and American format, which present the odds differently but use the same principles. 

Betting Types

The Each-way Bet 

Oftentimes people want to hedge their bets and have more chance of winning money or getting their stake back. The each-way bet is used for this reason. 

• An example: You stake €5 each-way on Tiger Roll at odds of 8/1. This means you are placing a €5 'win bet' and a €5 'place bet' on Tiger Roll. The race itself has 10 runners, so bookmakers are counting the 1st, 2nd and 3rd horses as being placed. They are also offering a quarter of the odds for place bets.