Elaine O'Farrell

I'm from Co Cork. Race Displays is a company I started in 2000 - we specialise in racecourse advertising signage and branding. We provide the full package of sign design, manufacture and installation at all racecourses. This also includes providing the number cloths for tracks and for sponsors, as well as the branded rugs for the winning horse. We cover as many camera angles as possible and maximise the brand exposure for the sponsor from a small local sponsorship to the televised festival race days. Our factory is in Dublin 15 on the Dublin/Meath border not too far from Fairyhouse racecourse.

I would be on track almost every raceday - the daily routine would involve setting up the number cloths in the weigh room and making sure every horse has its own cloth, be it generic or sponsored. We install the raceday signs on the track - winning posts, racecourse signs, parade ring signs, presentation podium signs, fence signs, starting stall signs and anything else we can brand we do! On the bigger racedays, we would have branded grooms jackets, baseball caps, corporate suite decor, marquee promotional setup and goodie bags.

Once racing is over, we take all the signs down and bring the number cloths back to our facility to launder and have ready for the next race day. As we manufacture all items inhouse, we can provide a quick turnaround to sponsors which is important and, due to the nature of live events, there tends to be a lot of last-minute requests. With our knowledge of the track layouts, we can adapt to late changes on the track that may affect our sign positions so we can move if we need to. Some of our customers/sponsors sponsor at other sporting events, so we can use their signage at these events such as greyhound racing, GAA matches and national ploughing events among others.

A recent addition to our raceday is providing the logistics for sectional timing system at the tracks. This is where two sectional timing units are inserted in each number cloth for each horse. These units relay sectional times for each horse for each furlong of the race. It is valuable additional information for trainers, jockeys, owners, stewards and the general public.

Every race is important - from the relatively quiet industry race days to the bigger televised festivals and they all get the same attention. We would be working on race meetings a day, a week, or three to four weeks in advance. I enjoy the buzz of the big-race days and seeing the results of weeks of preparation work behind the scenes coming together for a live event to provide the sponsor with the maximum coverage of their brand. There are also brilliant race days for sponsors when a race result provides unexpected content for social media platforms and the branding gets the ultimate recognition.

For us, this business is a way of life as there is racing almost every day and plenty to keep us busy. The racing community who go racing everyday are great people to work with - we enjoy the fun and the banter and if you work at something you love you never work a day in your life. Keep racing and keep the signs up! I've yet to put a winning rug on one of my own horses! I'm hoping someday that will happen - we'll get there, I'm sure!

My favourite race would be the Irish Grand National as we have had horses ourselves with the Dreapers' and they are closely associated with the Irish Grand National, and Fairyhouse is our local track. Dermot 'Red' McLoughlin would be a good pal of ours and he worked in Dreapers' and trained there. Now he is training himself and has two Irish Grand National winners (Freewheelin Dylan in 2021 and Lord Lariat in 2022). I put the winning rug on both of his Irish Grand National winners. There was actually a prize for Lord Lariat's groom and I had to hold the horse while she got her prize, and that was as close as I was going to get to an Irish Grand National winner! Those are magic days with the big winners - I took a chance that Sizing Europe would win the Grade 1 BoyleSports Champion Steeplechase at Punchestown (in 2012), so I put his name on the winners' rug and thankfully that worked out!