Bellewstown is the races and the Hill of Crockafotha. The first recorded racing here appears in the Dublin Gazette in August 1726 — nearly three hundred years of argument about which horse is fastest, held on a hill with views to the Mountains of Mourne north and the Irish Sea east.
The tradition hardened. In 1780, a former Mayor of Drogheda convinced King George III to sponsor a race — His Majesty's Plate, valued at £100. That's when Bellewstown became a place rather than a hillside with horses on it.
Today it is summer racing, early July and August. Flat and hurdle races, eight days of them. The setting is high ground, panoramic, windy. No two races feel the same because the hill decides. You come for the betting. You stay because the light is different from everywhere else.
The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.
From Navan, take the N51 south toward Drogheda. About 25 minutes. Drogheda to Bellewstown is 8 km south on local roads.
Bus Éireann 103 Navan–Drogheda passes near the site. From Drogheda, local taxi about 10 minutes.
Drogheda station (Dublin–Belfast line) is closest. Then taxi or local bus, 10–15 minutes.