Listowel Racecourse Guide

Listowel is a racecourse in Ireland which hosts both Flat and National Hunt meetings and is the location for the major end-of-summer Harvest Festival.

The festival takes place in September and is a week-long celebration of racing and Irish culture, with the Kerry National the centrepiece of the meeting.

The current racecourse, which is close to the town centre, first opened in 1858 and is one of the oldest in Ireland.

You can find our ultimate guide to the historic Irish racecourse below.

Listowel Racecourse Location

Where is Listowel?

The racecourse is located adjacent to the town of Listowel in County Kerry, Ireland. It is within easy walking distance of the centre, which is located 22km north of Tralee and 60km west of Limerick.

How to get to Listowel Racecourse

By Train

The nearest stations are Tralee and Limerick, where trains regularly run to and from Heuston Station in Dublin.

A bus service runs from those two stations to Listowel during the Harvest Festival.

By Bus

There are regular bus services to the racecourse from Listowel town centre.

By Car

• Listowel's Eircode is V31 YW54

• From Shannon Airport, take the Limerick to Tarbert road

• From Farranfore Airport take the Tralee road

• From Limerick take the Tarbert road

• From Tralee take the N69

Listowel Racecourse Layout

Track Layout

Flat Course

A left-handed, sharp track of about one-mile-and-one-furlong in length, with a run-in of about two furlongs, the Flat track at Listowel is considered to suit a speedy sort of horse.

It's a quite tight and undulating track in nature and, in many eyes, it rides best on softer ground as it helps to slow things down.

National Hunt Course

Over jumps, Listowel is a very sharp, flat, left-handed oval track of about a mile-and-a-quarter. It very much favours the handy type and even in races over staying trips, it presents little in the way of a severe test of stamina.

There are five fences to a circuit of the chase track, with two in the home straight of less than two furlongs before a run-in that is around 200 yards.

When the ground is soft, fields often get quite well strung out quickly, as plenty of runners have been known to struggle with the conditions. The Listowel fences are stiff in nature.

Enclosures and Viewing Areas

Like many Irish racecourses, there is a standard viewing area at Listowel as well as many other options for racegoers.

These include the New Stand Complex and Hannon Stand.

Key Races at Listowel

Kerry National

The most valuable race run at Listowel is the Grade 3 Kerry National.

The track's feature race is run on the Wednesday of the Harvest Festival over 3 miles, is worth €200,000 in prize money and was won convincingly by Flooring Porter in 2024.

MCG Handicap Hurdle

The second-most valuable race at the Harvest Festival is the MCG Handicap Hurdle, which is run over two miles on the Friday and usually earns the winner over €50,000.

Daniel King's Frankendael won the contest in 2024.

Listowel Racecourse History

Listowel Racecourse Opening Date

The origin of Listowel races can be traced to an annual gathering at Ballyeigh, Ballybunion, about nine miles from Listowel, which dates back to the early nineteenth century.

The racecourse officially opened its doors in 1858.

When was the first Harvest Festival held?

The Harvest Festival, which now also includes plenty of things for racegoers to enjoy away from the track, first began in 1862 as a three-day meeting.

The festival was extended to four days in 1970 and five in 1977 before becoming the seven-day spectacle it is today in 2002.

When was the first Kerry National at Listowel?

The Kerry National was first held in 2008. It was won by Ponmeoath, who was trained by Eric McNamara and ridden by Paddy Flood.