The racing was allowed to carry on and, 146 years since the first meeting at Laytown Racecourse, the event goes from strength to strength -- the Guinness flows, the music plays and hooves thunder in the sand.

CNN: Quick sand: Welcome to Irish beach racing at Laytown

When the tide goes out, organizers shovel up and pat down the sand to create the racing line, but such are the elements that occasional pools of surface water can remain, which some horses don't mind but others despise -- merely another nuance to the racing at Laytown.

CNN: Quick sand: Welcome to Irish beach racing at Laytown