Downpatrick races in full flow. The course is packed and the crowd watch intently as the horses come in.
Down Royal Race Course has a long and interesting history. Racing has been taking place on the current course, at Maze near Lisburn, since, the early 18th Century on land donated by Arthur Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, but the history of Down Royal goes further back to 1685 when King James II issued a Royal Charter and formed the Down Royal Corporation of Horse Breeders.