Rose of Tralee Sweepstake the highlight of festival meeting
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THERE might be no horseracing in Tralee, most unfortunately, but the management of Kingdom Greyhound Stadium is certainly playing its part in relation to providing additional entertainment for those who will be attending the Festival of Kerry golden jubilee festivities.
It is making a particularly big effort with a meeting which has been arranged for Sunday next, commencing at 3.30pm. This meeting will feature the final of the € 3,500-to-thewinner Pembroke Construction Rose of Tralee Sweepstake, generously sponsored by Tony Griffin, and there will be a whole range of outstanding side attractions.
Best of all, of course, is the fact that all 50 Rose of Tralee contestants and their escorts will be in attendance, plus the 50 Rose Buds. The Roses will be dining in the Grandstand Restaurant and they will certainly bring great excitement and glamour to the afternoon.
Apparently, there will be races for both the Rose of Tralee contestants and their escorts. Wonder how many will go to post?
A jazz band will be there to whip up the atmosphere and, essentially, it will be an afternoon of great family entertainment. For the kids, there will be bouncy castles, face-painting and, wait for it, a fashion show! There will also be a bestdressed ladies' competition sponsored by Debenhams.
Terrier racing is also part of the programme and, of course, the All-Ireland football semi-final will be televised live throughout the stadium.
Needless to say, the more regular punters will be concentrating largely on picking winners and an outstanding eleven-race card will certainly provide plenty of betting opportunities for them.
The finalists in the Rose of Tralee Sweepstake were not known until Tuesday night of this week, when the three semi-finals took place, but such has been the brilliance of the times up to now that an extremely worthy winner is sure to emerge. All races, incidentally, will be streamed live on the internet.
After racing, music in the downstairs bar will bring proceedings to a close and all one can do is congratulate the management of Tralee Track on this excellent initiative.
In relation to Round 2 of the Rose of Tralee Sweepstake, the second-round winners last Thursday night were: Headleys Jake, 28.77; Cliffs Of Dover, 29.07; Killacolla Pearl, 29.05; Law Writ, 28.83; Waycross Minka, 29.18; Confident Sky, 28.98.
