Listowel Racecourse is a

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

venue in the town of

Listowel Listowel ( ; , IPA: �lʲɪsˠˈt̪ˠuəhəlʲ is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,820 according to the Central Statistics Of ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

which stages both

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

and

Flat racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

. The course is flat and run left handed over an inner rectangular shaped circuit measuring just over a mile, and a triangular outer circuit of a mile and a furlong. There is a chute for the 7 furlong and 1 mile races. The current racecourse which is close to the town centre first opened in 1858 and celebrated its 150th Anniversary in 2008.

Festival

Listowel's largest race festival, known as the Harvest Festival and originally known as the North Kerry Hunt Steeplechase Meeting, takes place each year in September. It is run over seven days with both national hunt and flat races taking place. It is the final festival to take place in the summer, the last before Christmas and second only to the

Galway Races The Galway Races (Irish: ''Rásaí na Gaillimhe'') is an Irish horse-racing festival that starts on the last Monday of July every year. Held at Ballybrit Racecourse in Galway, Ireland over seven days, it is one of the longest of all the race m ...

in attendances.

Guinness Kerry National

The most valuable race run at Listowel is the Guinness Kerry National. It is run on the Wednesday of the Harvest Festival over a distance of 3 miles and worth €200,000 in prize money. Previous winners include the Aintree

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

winner

Monty's Pass Monty's Pass (23 April 1993 – November 2022) was the winner of the 2003 Grand National at Aintree, Liverpool, when ridden by Barry Geraghty, trained by Jimmy Mangan and running in the colours of the Dee Racing Syndicate, a group of owners b ...

References

External links

Official websiteGo Racing Profile
Horse racing venues in the Republic of Ireland Listowel Sports venues in County Kerry Sports venues completed in 1858 1858 establishments in Ireland {{Ireland-sports-venue-stub