Racecourse Guide

Listowel
Flat

The Island, Listowel, County Kerry · seven September days in a bend of the River Feale

⬤ Flat Turf
Turf
Left-Handed
Sharp
Festival Racing

Round Course

Two circuits ~1m and ~1m1f–1m2f

Run-in

~2f jumps sources say 200yds

Direction

Left-handed

Surface

Turf black, holding when wet

Character

Sharp suits the speedy sort

Key Fixture

Harvest Festival 7 days · September

Track Breakdown

Course Overview

Track Character

Flat racing at Listowel lives inside the same two windows as everything else here: the short June Whit meeting and the seven-day September Harvest Festival, Ireland’s second-best-attended race week after Galway. There is no black type on the Flat side — the September cards are built on competitive, valuable handicaps in front of five-figure crowds, with Ladies Day (27,232 in 2022) the week’s biggest single date.

The track is a sharp, left-handed island circuit in a bend of the River Feale — two circuit options of roughly a mile and a mile and a quarter, a chute serving the 7f and 1m starts, and 6f races beginning just before a long turn. It suits a speedy, handy sort; the emphasis is never stamina. The wildcard is under your feet: the black, holding island soil transforms the place when it rains, and it is the single most important variable in any Listowel Flat bet.

“Listowel is a tight track that in truth rides best when it’s soft. It’s quite tight and undulating and soft ground slows the whole thing down a bit and makes it easier to handle. The draw isn’t all that important when the ground is on the soft side, but proven stamina is very important, as the ground gets very heavy indeed at Listowel, it isn’t like anywhere else, and it takes an awful lot of getting. If the ground is on the firmer side, a low draw is a help and pace is important.”
— Mick Kinane, former champion Irish Flat jockey — At The Races

Kinane’s two-state model is the whole course in four sentences: soft ground makes the sharp track kinder, deletes the draw and promotes stamina; quicker ground restores pace and — in his reading — a low-draw edge. One respectful caveat from the numbers: the specialist draw data finds no standout stall bias at Listowel even on the quicker side, so treat his “low is a help” as a rider’s marginal preference rather than a structural rule. His “it isn’t like anywhere else” about the heavy ground, though, is beyond dispute.

Course Facts

Circuits Two — inner ~1m, outer ~1m1f–1m2f; sources disagree on exact lengths and even the shapes
Starts A chute serves the 7f and 1m trips; 6f races start just before a long turn on the back straight
Character Sharp and tight — “suits a speedy sort of horse”; stamina is rarely the test
The ground Black, holding river-island soil — the course’s defining variable when rain arrives
Season June Whit meeting + the seven-day September Harvest Festival; nothing else all year

Pace & the Market

Front-runners 18.21% winners on the Flat since 2009 — +114.78 level stakes (course study)
Held up 3.47% — described as one of the worst hold-up records at any Irish course
Handicaps Front/prominent runners: 13.45% strike rate, +117.45 level stakes
Translation The single most reliable angle at the meeting is who goes forward

The Festival on the Flat

No black type The Flat programme is valuable handicaps and maidens — prestige lives on the jumps side
Crowds Second only to Galway: Ladies Day 27,232 and Kerry National day 25,700 in 2022
Riders Wayne Lordan (24%) and Garry Carroll (12 winners) lead the five-season festival jockey lists
History Racing at Listowel since 1858; the island course took the meeting over from Ballyeigh Strand’s wilder era

Draw Analysis

Draw Bias by Distance

Listowel is a case study in reputation versus measurement. The reputational claim — repeated across general course guides — is that a low draw is “a great advantage” over six furlongs because of the quickly-arriving bend. The specialist site that actually counted found the opposite: no draw bias at six furlongs, “absolutely no draw bias” at seven, and at a mile “not much of a bias although low maybe slightly favoured.” Its overall verdict: you can win from any stall at Listowel regardless of going, distance or field size. Kinane’s rider view sits between the camps — low is “a help” on quicker ground, irrelevant on soft — which is best read as a marginal preference, not an edge worth paying for. The bettable structure here is pace, and it is dramatic.

No Real Bias — Despite the Reputation

The “low draw is a great advantage” line survives in general guides; the quantified source found nothing at 6f. The bend is real — the stall edge isn’t. Weight the pace map instead.

None At All

“Absolutely no draw bias” is the specialist site’s own phrasing for the chute trip — the seven-furlong start gives the field time to organise before the turns matter.

Low, Marginally, Maybe

“Not much of a bias although low maybe slightly favoured” — the softest of leans, echoing Kinane’s firmer-ground preference. A tiebreaker at best; never a reason on its own.

Sources: drawbias.com’s Listowel page (no standout bias at any trip — qualitative verdicts, no published figures), the conflicting low-draw reputation carried by general course guides, and Mick Kinane’s going-dependent rider view via At The Races. The quantified pace study (front-runners 18.21%, held-up 3.47% since 2009) is where Listowel’s real structure lives. No stalls-level draw pull has been run for this page yet; quantified bars will follow.

Statistics · Since 2010

Top Trainers & Jockeys

Trainer	Runs	Wins	Win%	Places	Place%	A/E	P/L
1 O’Brien, A P	138	33	23.91%	65	47.10%	0.91	-36.79
2 Weld, D K	160	31	19.38%	68	42.50%	0.96	-37.71
3 O’Brien, Joseph Patrick	142	23	16.20%	52	36.62%	0.89	-34.16
4 Bolger, J S	150	19	12.67%	49	32.67%	0.90	-27.50
5 Harrington, Mrs John	159	18	11.32%	48	30.19%	0.79	+27.86
6 Murphy, Joseph G	84	13	15.48%	27	32.14%	1.25	+29.00
7 McCreery, W	100	12	12.00%	37	37.00%	0.94	-24.02
8 McGuinness, Adrian	98	10	10.20%	26	26.53%	0.91	+87.50
9 Mullins, W P	53	10	18.87%	26	49.06%	0.67	-21.72
10 Halford, M	65	9	13.85%	18	27.69%	1.03	-23.00
11 Marnane, David	56	8	14.29%	19	33.93%	1.28	+17.25
12 Cromwell, Gavin Patrick	60	7	11.67%	19	31.67%	1.11	+5.33
13 Prendergast, Kevin	54	7	12.96%	19	35.19%	1.09	+15.25
14 Deegan, P D	43	7	16.28%	13	30.23%	1.34	+22.25
15 Prendergast, P J	36	7	19.44%	14	38.89%	1.49	+24.00
16 Hogan, Denis Gerard	82	6	7.32%	24	29.27%	0.64	-36.00
17 Mulvany, Michael	62	6	9.68%	23	37.10%	0.95	-21.12
18 Martin, A J	50	6	12.00%	16	32.00%	1.00	-14.00
19 Wachman, David	40	5	12.50%	22	55.00%	0.73	-14.79
20 Bromhead, Henry De	24	5	20.83%	8	33.33%	1.64	-0.62

Listowel Flat, since 2010. A P O’Brien leads the page on volume (33 wins from 138, 23.9% SR, A/E 0.91), though the market prices that in. The real value signals are Joseph G Murphy (A/E 1.25, +£29.00), P J Prendergast (A/E 1.49, +£24.00) and P D Deegan (A/E 1.34, +£22.25). Oppose the over-bet Denis Gerard Hogan (A/E 0.64), W P Mullins (A/E 0.67) and David Wachman (A/E 0.73).

Jockey	Runs	Wins	Win%	Places	Place%	A/E	P/L
1 Smullen, P J	135	26	19.26%	55	40.74%	0.94	-31.91
2 Lordan, W M	183	24	13.11%	62	33.88%	1.03	-22.69
3 Carroll, G F	173	24	13.87%	53	30.64%	1.27	+26.34
4 Hayes, C D	256	23	8.98%	64	25.00%	0.77	-93.27
5 Foley, Shane	228	21	9.21%	69	30.26%	0.73	-91.75
6 Lee, W J	196	21	10.71%	57	29.08%	0.79	-84.18
7 Manning, K J	157	20	12.74%	51	32.48%	0.90	-27.37
8 McDonogh, D P	159	15	9.43%	48	30.19%	0.76	-58.00
9 Whelan, R P	171	13	7.60%	33	19.30%	0.75	+15.50
10 Roche, L F	99	11	11.11%	28	28.28%	1.31	-10.87
11 Berry, F M	92	10	10.87%	31	33.70%	0.82	-30.00
12 Keane, C T	148	9	6.08%	55	37.16%	0.41	-67.25
13 Heffernan, J A	129	9	6.98%	31	24.03%	0.60	-94.76
14 O’Brien, J P	69	9	13.04%	28	40.58%	0.59	-43.29
15 Ryan, Gavin	69	9	13.04%	19	27.54%	1.09	-6.12
16 McMonagle, Dylan B	62	8	12.90%	21	33.87%	0.69	-36.16
17 Cleary, R P	128	7	5.47%	23	17.97%	0.71	-4.00
18 Curtis, B A	44	7	15.91%	12	27.27%	2.01	+45.00
19 Crosse, S M	23	7	30.43%	11	47.83%	1.96	+29.58
20 McAteer, L T	31	6	19.35%	10	32.26%	1.71	+0.50

Listowel Flat, since 2010. P J Smullen leads the riders on volume (26 wins from 135, 19.3% SR, A/E 0.94). The real value signals are B A Curtis (A/E 2.01, +£45.00), S M Crosse (A/E 1.96, +£29.58) and G F Carroll (A/E 1.27, +£26.34). Oppose the over-bet C T Keane (A/E 0.41), J P O’Brien (A/E 0.59) and J A Heffernan (A/E 0.60).

Sire Statistics · Since 2010

Top Sires

A/E above 1.0 indicates market underestimation.

Sire	Runs	Wins	Win%	Places	Place%	A/E	P/L
1 Galileo (IRE)	93	17	18.28%	45	48.39%	0.85	-24.97
2 Rock Of Gibraltar (IRE)	51	8	15.69%	14	27.45%	1.43	-0.62
3 No Nay Never (USA)	26	8	30.77%	11	42.31%	1.49	+13.63
4 Holy Roman Emperor (IRE)	72	7	9.72%	20	27.78%	0.83	-31.80
5 Lawman (FR)	51	7	13.73%	16	31.37%	1.06	+18.50
6 Dark Angel (IRE)	50	7	14.00%	17	34.00%	1.29	-6.62
7 Captain Rio	41	7	17.07%	11	26.83%	1.69	+47.33
8 Dragon Pulse (IRE)	34	7	20.59%	14	41.18%	1.79	+12.08
9 Invincible Spirit (IRE)	68	6	8.82%	15	22.06%	0.72	+68.21
10 Kodiac	60	6	10.00%	16	26.67%	0.97	+23.26
11 Acclamation	58	6	10.34%	18	31.03%	0.78	-25.92
12 Fast Company (IRE)	55	5	9.09%	18	32.73%	0.72	-29.75
13 Lope De Vega (IRE)	42	5	11.90%	16	38.10%	0.88	-6.50
14 Zebedee	42	5	11.90%	14	33.33%	1.04	-11.17
15 Fastnet Rock (AUS)	37	5	13.51%	9	24.32%	1.08	-19.00
16 Sea The Stars (IRE)	23	5	21.74%	8	34.78%	1.31	-2.50
17 Whipper (USA)	15	5	33.33%	8	53.33%	3.31	+37.00
18 Jeremy (USA)	41	4	9.76%	12	29.27%	0.82	-27.02
19 Teofilo (IRE)	36	4	11.11%	17	47.22%	0.86	-3.10
20 Camelot	29	4	13.79%	8	27.59%	0.99	+1.75

Listowel Flat, since 2010. Galileo (IRE) tops the sire list (17 wins from 93, 18.3% SR, A/E 0.85), though the market prices that in. The real value signals are Captain Rio (A/E 1.69, +£47.33), No Nay Never (USA) (A/E 1.49, +£13.63) and Dragon Pulse (IRE) (A/E 1.79, +£12.08). A small-sample standout to flag: Whipper (USA) (A/E 3.31). Oppose the over-bet Fast Company (IRE) (A/E 0.72) and Acclamation (A/E 0.78).

Insider Knowledge

Betting Tips for Listowel Flat Turf

⏩

The pace stat is the whole track

Front-runners: 18.21% and +114.78 level stakes since 2009. Held-up: 3.47% — one of the worst waiting records in Ireland. In the big-field festival handicaps the front/prominent pair still returns +117.45. Sort every Listowel Flat race by early speed before anything else.

🌈

Bet the going, not the folklore

Kinane’s two-state model: soft ground kills the draw and demands proven stamina; quicker ground restores pace as king. But don’t assume the bog — the 2025 festival’s biggest day ran on yielding. The day’s going report is worth more than every reputation this course carries.

🌧

Heavy at Listowel is a different sport

“The ground gets very heavy indeed at Listowel, it isn’t like anywhere else, and it takes an awful lot of getting.” When the Feale island soil turns, tear up quick-ground form entirely — proven heavy-ground stamina beats class, and bad runs in it are freely forgivable next time.

⚖

Don’t pay for a stall number

The measured verdict is no standout draw bias at any trip — against a persistent low-draw reputation at 6f. If a price moves on draw talk at Listowel, that’s value leaking toward the pace angle the market undersells.

🏆

Lordan and Carroll are the festival Flat names

Wayne Lordan (24% over five festival seasons) and Garry Carroll (12 winners, the volume leader) head the Flat-riding lists at the meeting. Neither carries a published profit figure, so treat them as strike-rate leads — and remember the week’s depth suits yards that target it deliberately.

🕑

Two windows means targeted horses

With all Listowel racing packed into June and September, nothing turns up here by accident — connections chose this meeting months out. Stable intent (multiple entries, a booked festival rider, a June prep for September) reads louder here than at year-round tracks.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Backing the “low draw at 6f” reputation. The source that measured it found no draw bias at six or seven furlongs — the tight-bend logic sounds right and counts wrong.
Assuming September rides heavy. The island soil’s reputation is earned, but the 2025 festival’s feature day went on yielding — check the report, don’t bet the folklore.
Reading festival form as ordinary form. Seven days on one sharp island track with black soil produces results that transfer poorly — forgive Listowel flops elsewhere, and respect Listowel winners returning here.
Expecting black type. The Flat programme is handicap-first — no Listed or Group race was found on the Flat side, and the prestige races of Harvest week are all over jumps.

Common Questions

Listowel (Flat) Racecourse FAQs

Is there a draw bias at Listowel?

The measured answer is no — the specialist draw site found no bias at 6f, “absolutely no draw bias” at 7f, and only a marginal possible low lean at a mile, concluding you can win from any stall regardless of going or field size. That contradicts a persistent low-draw reputation in general guides. Mick Kinane’s rider view is going-dependent: low helps a little on quick ground, and the draw stops mattering entirely on soft. The real edge is pace — front-runners 18.21%, held-up 3.47% since 2009.

What kind of track is Listowel on the Flat?

A sharp, tight, left-handed island circuit in a bend of the River Feale, with two circuit options around a mile to a mile and a quarter, a chute for the 7f and 1m starts, and 6f races starting just before a long turn. It suits speedy, handy types — stamina is rarely the examination. The defining feature is the black, holding soil: when it turns testing, fields string out, form books invert, and proven mud stamina becomes everything.

When does Listowel race on the Flat?

Only in the course’s two windows: the short Whit meeting in early June and the seven-day Harvest Festival in late September, where Flat races share the cards with the jumps programme throughout the week. The festival has run seven days since 2002 and draws crowds second only to Galway — Ladies Day alone brought 27,232 through the gates in 2022.

What are the big Flat races at Listowel?

There is no black type on Listowel’s Flat side — the week’s prestige lives with the Kerry National and the jumps features. The Flat’s appeal is different: valuable, ultra-competitive festival handicaps in front of five-figure crowds, where the quantified pace edge (front-runners +114.78 level stakes since 2009) gives structure the formbook alone doesn’t show.

Where is Listowel racecourse?

On “The Island” — literally the postal address — in a loop of the River Feale on the edge of Listowel town, County Kerry, a short walk from the town square with two of its three entrances crossing the river by bridge. Tralee is 16 miles away and Limerick 50; with no rail line into town, the festival runs special buses from both stations. Storm Bert’s November 2024 flood — the river’s first such incursion since 1973 — was repaired well before the 2025 festival.

Explore

Nearby Tracks

Killarney

The lakes festival, an hour south.

Cork

Munster’s galloping dual-code track.

Limerick

The region’s year-round dual venue.

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