Impossible? Not if it is on the beach at Laytown, Co Meath, half an hour's drive north of Dublin, Ireland.

The transformation that took place in just 5 hours was incredible. Workers bashed poles and stakes into the sand that quickly dried hard when the tide went out. Then they erected the plastic running rail.

This is arguably the most unusual track in the world. Sure, they race on sand in plenty of other places, but none of them has their date in the fixture list decided by a study of the tides.

The annual Laytown Races took place this year on a sunny Tuesday afternoon that drew a crowd of 5,000, many of them visitors from other countries, including Britain.

Jamie Osborne, a Royal Ascot-winning trainer, assembled a squad of 7 horses for Lambourn-based lawyer Ian Barrett and with the desired outcome -- they won the last race, much to their delight.

"My owners, such as Ian, love it. It's a great day out, they can back their horses, and the hospitality is fantastic," Osborne said.

Racing at Laytown started in 1868. Its history is blighted by an accident in 1994, when 3 horses were killed in a race pile-up and several spectators taken to hospital after loose horses galloped into the crowd on the beach.

Ted Walsh, the former top amateur rider turned trainer and TV pundit, said: "There was a deep hole underneath a pool of water, which was missed in the pre-racing inspection of the track. It was a bad fall."

Racing stopped for a few years but then made a return.

These days, they have smaller fields and race over shorter distances. Starting stalls have been in use the past two years.

If you like something a bit different on your racing menu, sample racing on the beach at Laytown. You will love it. It is unique.