A total of 390 fixtures will be run in Ireland in 2022, with the fixture list published on Tuesday. There are 387 fixtures on the list at this stage with three 'floating fixtures' to be kept in reserve to be programmed at short notice by the Horse Racing Ireland Fixtures Committee. There will be 346 turf fixtures (up from 339 in 2021) and 44 all-weather fixtures (up from 41 this year). Six Sundays have been kept blank-Apr. 24, June 19, July 24, Aug. 28, Sept. 4 and Oct. 9, and the number of Saturday evening meetings has been reduced from four to three-Bellewstown (July 2), Kilbeggan (Aug. 6), and Tramore (Aug. 13). The Flat season begins at The Curragh on Mar. 26, with Dundalk's Winter AWT Finals conducted the day prior on Mar. 25. Held over a week from July 25-31, the Galway Festival will remain a mixed meeting of Flat and National Hunt cards. The full fixture list may be viewed here.
Jason Morris, HRI's Director of Racing, said, “We continue to see strong growth in our horse population numbers (up 19% year-on-year) and average field size figures (up from 11.8 to 12.3 runners per race), and this is reflected in the increased fixture list that we are announcing for 2022. By retaining three meetings to be allocated at short notice during next year, we can retain flexibility to respond quickly to the demands of the horse population as they materialise in 2022.”
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