Trainer Aidan O'Brien and the organizing committee of the inaugural Irish Champions Weekend were honored by The Irish Turf Club at the annual Moyglare Dinner held Saturday. O'Brien received his presentation for his historical hat trick in the G1 Epsom Derby, as Australia (GB) (Galileo {Ire})'s triumph in the 2014 renewal came on the back of victories by Ruler of the World (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in 2013 and Camelot (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}) in 2012. Irish Turf Club Senior Steward Neville O'Byrne commentated: “The Epsom Derby was run for the first time in 1780. Since then it has been run on 235 occasions. However, in 2014 Aidan achieved something that no trainer had ever achieved before in the history of the race when he became the first person to train three consecutive winners of the race–an incredible achievement.”
The organising committee behind the first edition of the Irish Champions Weekend, which took place at Leopardstown and The Curragh Sept. 13-14, was also honored. In making the presentation, O'Byrne said: “Starting from scratch the committee, along with the various sponsors and partners, put together a racing extravaganza over the two days which was an unqualified success. With total prize money of over €3.7 million and attendances over 24,000, we saw the best of flat racing that this country has to offer. For the first time, we welcomed QIPCO as a sponsor and this enabled the prize fund for the Champion S. to be raised to €1 million. With 50% of the races being won by British-trained runners, this will no doubt encourage overseas trainers to come back in greater numbers next year and make the weekend even more competitive.”
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