The highlight of the year at Listowel is the week-long 'harvest' festival, usually held in mid-September.
Traditionally, farmers would come here to relax, and have a few bets with the money earned from the season's harvest. Racing has taken place here since 1858, having been moved from the nearby town of Ballyeagh - the move due to too much faction fighting at the original venue!
The course itself is a flat, left-handed, sharp track - which is oval in shape and roughly one mile and two furlongs in distance. It doesn't present much of a stamina test and front runners tend to do well. There are five fences to a circuit on the chase course. There is a run-in of roughly two furlongs. On the flat, lower drawn horses have shown a slight advantage in races over seven furlongs and also one mile.
Two trainers to note are Kevin Prendergast and David Wachman, both of whom show strike-rates above 25% and have proved profitable to follow over the past five years. Ruby Walsh is the jockey that has performed best here in recent years, with a win rate of one in four on average, and a healthy profit if blindly backed.
Favourites don't perform particularly well on the flat at 28%, with that figure slightly higher over jumps at 29.6%. However, maiden hurdle favourites have a strike-rate of nearly 39%, and have broke even to level stakes if blindly followed over the past five years.
Previous course form is not hugely significant, with 12.3% of flat horses going on to win again on their return. That figure is somewhat lower over jumps at 10%.