Photos by Amanda Burke
Way saw a new dawn at Gowran Park racecourse with the unveiling of their new state of the art weigh room facility which has just been completed by Dunlop Architects and Kilkenny’s Ormonde Construction. The official opening honours were left to Champion Irish Jumps Trainer WP Mullins and his Mom, Mrs. Maureen Mullins, shareholder, and former Director of Gowran Park. The large, invited attendance were treated to a show around of the facility from Chairman Joe Connolly and General Manager Eddie Scally.
Speaking at the official opening was Henry Beeby, Group Chief Executive of Goffs, title sponsors of the Goffs Thyestes Chase day at Gowran Park, who said: “Everyone at Goffs congratulates Eddie Scally and the Board of Directors at Gowran Park on the opening of their magnificent new weigh room. The team at Gowran Park consistently go above and beyond to enhance the race day experience for racegoers, industry professionals and sponsors alike and this excellent new facility is testament to their vision and hard work.
Goffs Thyestes Chase is one of the highlights of our year and marks the start of the inspection period for the market leading Goffs Arkle Sale. We are delighted to have recently renewed our sponsorship of the iconic race for a further four years and look forward to a fantastic day here at Gowran next week..
Eddie Scally of Gowran Park commented “This is a proud day for all the team here at Gowran to finally get this project over the line and ready for Goffs Thyestes Day 2024. This is phase two of a five phase plan which started with the building of our new entrance area just before covid struck. It was a pleasure working with the teams from Dunlop’s and Ormonde construction and I must congratulate them on producing what we feel is a weigh room befitting our racecourse. I would like to thank all who contributed to this project from jockeys to valets from stewards to industry professionals and of course our Board of Directors who were always supportive and helpful throughout this process”.
Joe Connolly – Chairman of Gowran Park said “2024 will be a massive year for this racecourse starting with the opening of this weigh room. This project has been in planning for many years, and I would like to thank all who contributed to this in anyway and HRI whose professional & financial support was essential for this project to be completed. Later this year we will be opening the rooftop area of this weigh room which will house our Sponsors & Directors Lounge, this phase is almost complete, and we will host another open evening at one of our flat race days in April.
It has always been the ambition of the board of directors to leave Gowran Park in a better position than when we took up our roles and this is another big step in getting us to our vision for Gowran Park”.
The first use of this new facility in Gowran Park will be on the time honored Goffs Thyestes Chase Day which will be again covered live on RTE & Racing TV.
Early bird general admission tickets are still available at www.gowranpark.ie but all hospitality is now sold out.
Courtesy buses will leave from Kilkenny Castle two hours before the first race.
