Sligo Racecourse

Sligo is a sharp, undulating right-handed turf circuit of just over a mile, used for both Flat and National Hunt racing. Its defining feature is a stiff uphill finish: the run rises from roughly the four-furlong marker to the line, and the run-in is just under two furlongs and slightly uphill. Horses are on the turn for much of a lap, so a handy, prominent position is favoured and the track suits speed allied to stamina. The chase course carries five fences to a circuit on the outside of the hurdles track. Sitting in a natural bowl, the ground can ride testing and holding in wet weather.

Racing in the Sligo area dates back to a recorded meeting at Rosses Point (Bowmore) in September 1781, with later fixtures held on lands at Hazelwood from 1873. The present course at Cleveragh, on the edge of Sligo town, was opened on Wednesday 24 August 1955, when the Mayor of Sligo declared it open before a crowd reported at more than 7,000, who arrived partly on special train services. The Cleveragh track marked 50 years of racing in August 2005. A capital redevelopment around 2013, costing roughly EUR 2.5 million, added a new grandstand and facilities.

Sligo is a minor dual-purpose track with no Graded or Listed races; its calendar is ordinary handicaps and maidens rather than prestige fixtures. The busiest period is an early-August two-day meeting, when the Guinness Sligo Handicap Hurdle is the main feature, a handicap (worth around EUR 11,500 to the winner) rather than a graded contest. Other recurring races include the Benbulben Handicap Hurdle and Lough Gill Maiden Plate. Most fixtures are summer evening meetings.

Sligo Racecourse is at Cleveragh, on the south-eastern edge of Sligo town in County Sligo, in Ireland's north-west, roughly a kilometre (under a mile) from the town centre. It is the most northerly racecourse in the Republic of Ireland (only Down Royal and Downpatrick, in Northern Ireland, lie further north on the island). The setting is the venue's signature draw: the course sits in a valley with the limestone mass of Benbulben as a backdrop and Knocknarea nearby, giving grandstand mountain views. It is a small summer track, staging around six to nine race days a year, mostly May to October, many run as evening meetings.