LAST EVENING, MY latest struggle with wear, tear and the fight against the inevitable was a little demoralising.

If you remain in decent nick, playing AstroTurf football competently well into your 50s is achievable. It seems an impossibility for me and, inevitably, the temptation is to blame others.

My knees have never been the sturdiest but years of playing on AstroTurf have extended them no favour. The pitches need to be relayed, I moan every week after the latest battle with padded concrete and rubber pellets.

It was thus easy to relate to the frustration of jockeys and trainers regarding the Dundalk all-weather surface, which has reached something of a crescendo of late – culminating in the all-weather track issuing a press release this morning.

“Dundalk Stadium has received ‘a highly satisfactory’ report on the condition of its all-weather horse racing track at Racecourse Road following an expert inspection carried out by one of the world’s leading authorities on artificial all-weather horse racing tracks,” it read.

“The post-inspection report… confirms that, in its present condition, the Dundalk track is ‘both safe and consistent’, adding that ‘maintenance continues to be carried out in accordance with our guidelines.’” Though 12 years old, the report notes that the track still has ‘elasticity’.

For Ger Lyons, who has stopped running any horses at Dundalk, there is no solace in this morning’s press release. “I was the first trainer to have 100 winners at Dundalk; I farmed the place,” he told the42.ie.

“However, horses started coming back in inconsistent states and I told Dundalk that the track had a lifespan and needed to be relayed. However, Dundalk opted to go along with any positive comments they heard on the track and that went over any negatives.”

Trainer Sheila Lavery has also boycotted and been highly critical of Dundalk, in addition to numerous other trainers and jockeys. Others, like Damian English and Donnacha O’Brien, have been happy to defend it.

According to Lyons, next Friday’s – the last before late September – should be the last fixture at the County Louth track unless it is relayed. And this is a critical juncture for the track, as Horse Racing Ireland’s board meets Monday to discuss a second all-weather course in Ireland.

On the eve of the Punchestown Festival, a hugely significant decision pertaining to Flat racing in this country will be debated. Naas has long been mentioned as a particularly likely site of something HRI now sees as strategically vital but there is a strong rumour that Tipperary could be chosen.

Joseph O’Brien is among those to welcome the second track but Lyons is wary and his forthright opinion should be listened to. “We are going the same route as England here, where all-weather racing is essentially another version of greyhound racing, fodder for the bookmakers,” Lyons went on.

“No I do not think we need a second track; yes I do think we will get one. When that happens, at least, it will ensure Dundalk does not drop the ball again.”

Some trainers contend that the track is dangerous, despite the fact Aidan O’Brien still frequently runs very expensive colts up there. It is notable, however, that the runners he sends there are increasingly by US-bred stallions.

Jim Martin, chief executive of Dundalk, recently insisted there are no welfare concerns about the track. The Dundalk management confirmed the contract for resurfacing has gone out to tender but the surface, made up of synthetic fibres, rubber, sand and wax, may take up to six months to install and cost in the region of €2.5 million.

Dundalk’s relative isolation near the border was a boon to trainers in the northern half of the island and has helped to put the likes of English on the racing map. Will the top trainers have any inclination to send horses there if there is a new alternative down south near the heartlands of the Curragh, Ballydoyle and so on?

If Dundalk is to survive, it is hard to see it become anything other than a poor relation, increasingly loaded with bottom-of-the-class handicaps, which is certainly not what it was.

For so long, Dundalk got it right, in terms of blending top-class action with the mundane fare that keeps many trainers alive. When racing was delayed there recently over jockeys’ concerns about the track’s consistency and seemingly close to being abandoned, it seemed something of a watershed moment.

This is a track in an area that has suffered badly in the recession and which faces an unpredictable post-Brexit future that deserves to be restored to what it once was.

• Rathbride Prince has found a very nice opportunity in the Coast Rosslare Strand Handicap Hurdle (first division, 3.05) at Wexford Saturday for the excellent Paudie Roche.

The previously mentioned Joseph O’Brien has excelled with recruits from other stables and Little Clarinet can strike for him in the apprentice handicap (2.35) at Navan Sunday. She looks to have an outstanding chance.

Finally, closing date for expressions of interest for the new all-weather track is today. Punchestown will dominate the headlines next week, but a bigger story is developing somewhere in an office in Ballymany.