A total of 36 nominations across seven categories have been made for the 2022 Horse Racing Ireland Awards, which will be presented in Dublin in December. The categories and their respective nominees are as follows:
Horse of the Year:
- Kyprios (Ire)
- State Of Rest (Ire)
- Honeysuckle (GB)
- A Plus Tard (Fr)
- Allaho (Fr)
- Energumene (Fr)
National Hunt Award:
- Henry de Bromhead
- Willie Mullins
- Rachael Blackmore
- Paul Townend
- Patrick Mullins
National Hunt Achievement Award:
- Paddy Corkery, who joined an illustrious list of Grade 1 winning trainers;
- John “Shark” Hanlon for his most notable hat-trick of wins with Hewick;
- Tony Martin for saddling Tudor City to become the first horse to win the Guinness Galway Hurdle for a second time in almost 40 years;
- Dermot McLoughlin who became the first trainer in almost 50 years to win back-to-back renewals of the BoyleSports Irish Grand National with two different horses;
- Emmet Mullins who hit the big time with his Aintree Grand National success in April.
Flat Award:
- Colin Keane
- Billy Lee
- Paddy Twomey
- Aidan O'Brien
- Joseph O'Brien.
Flat Achievement Award:
- Willie Browne for his exploits with Spirit Gal (Fr);
- Dylan Browne McMonagle for his breakthrough Group 1 success;
- Nathan Crosse for celebrating a listed winner soon after riding out his claim;
- Brian Duffy for his memorable win with Magic Chegaga (Ire) at the Galway festival;
- Ado McGuinness for his Galway festival hat-trick in the 'Ahonoora' H. with Current Option (Ire)
- Mikey Sheehy, who followed up on losing his claim with a notable Group 3 win.
Point-to-Point Award:
- Colin Bowe
- David Christie
- James Hannon
- Liz Lalor
- Barry O'Neill
Emerging Talent Award:
- Jake Coen
- Sam Ewing
- Michael O'Sullivan
- Jamie Powell
The winners will be decided by a ballot of the Irish racing media, while a public vote will decide the outcome of the 2022 Ride of the Year category.
Suzanne Eade, CEO of Horse Racing Ireland, said, “Irish racing has had much to celebrate in the year gone by and I look forward to reflecting on that success at the 20th HRI Awards in Dublin next month. It is terrific to see so many nominations across the awards categories, honouring the wonderful achievements by so many in a racing industry that we can all be proud of.”
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