Horse Racing Ireland

GAIN The Advantage Series will be supported by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and GAIN Equine Nutrition for the fourth consecutive year, it was announced on Monday. In 2023, the trainer league was clinched during the final leg by Tipperary-based Andrew Slattery, who secured the overall prize of €5,000 worth of GAIN equine products. Building on three successful years, the 2024 series includes nine races which will be run for points over a variety of conditions to cater to different trainers and horses throughout the Flat season. All races in the...

A new Spring Series of median sires races has been added to the Irish Flat racing calendar for 2024 and beyond in what is a significant boost to the three-year-old programme for middle-distance horses. In an announcement made by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), the Irish European Breeders' Fund (Irish EBF) and Gowran Park Racecourse on Monday, the Spring Series will conclude with the €200,000 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Gowran Classic--the richest race ever held at Gowran Park--on Bank Holiday Monday, June 3. Three-year-olds with a median price of no more...

Richard Pugh and Freya Hammer have been appointed to the Racing Department of Horse Racing Ireland, HRI announced on Thursday. The former is now the head of Racing and Insights and will report to the director of Racing, Jonathan Mullin. Previously with Tattersalls Ireland since 2012 and their director of Horses-in-Training Sales since 2015, he will be responsible for the management of the Racing Department and the Race Planning Function. Pugh will also cease in his role of director of Point-to-Point Services, which he co-founded in 2003. Hammer is the...

Horse Racing Ireland chief Suzanne Eade says the figures posted in 2023 in relation to on-course betting, commercial sponsorship and public auction bloodstock sales points to a solid year for the industry as a whole in Ireland.  However, in the full-year statistics released by HRI on Thursday, it showed that the total number of active owners in Ireland has fallen by 1.2% to 4,698 and racecourse attendance figures have also dipped compared to the numbers posted in 2022.  Total on-course betting, including Tote, rose to €80.5m in 2023, an increase...

A jockey coaching programme that will see five qualified jockey coaches provide mentoring and specialised skills coaching across a range of subject areas to support and enhance the career development of all licensed jockeys in Ireland was launched by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI)'s equuip on Thursday. All five jockey coaches are former riders. The coaches and their regions are as follows: Nina Carberry (Meath and North regions), Paddy Flood and Niall McCullagh (East and Midlands regions), Robbie Moran (South region), and Derek O'Connor (Western region). Former champion jockey Barry Geraghty,...

A partnership to encourage international initiatives and working practices between the Japanese and British and Irish horseracing industries was announced by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and Japan Racing Association (JRA) on Friday. The creation of the Joint Cooperation Committee is to serve as a formal platform for members within the British and Irish horseracing industries to engage with their counterparts in Japan via the JRA. It will consist of agreed representatives from key shareholders in the respective territories including the BHA, HRI, Racecourse Media Group...

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) will undergo a number of structural and personnel changes in the Racing Department, the organization announced Wednesday. With effect from Mar. 1, Jason Morris, who has been Director of Racing since 2002, will become Horse Racing Ireland's Director of Strategy where his focus will be on the delivery and execution of HRI's strategic plan for 2024-2028, which will be launched early in the New Year. Also with effect from Mar. 1, Jonathan Mullin, who has served as Director of Communications and Public Affairs since 2017, will...

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) announced the launch of its Sustainability Strategy 2024 'Racing towards a better world'. The strategy, which supports Ireland's Climate Action Plan and the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals, identifies the role HRI will play in the change in sustainability across the organisation, while also providing guidance and support to the industry. "HRI is committed to fostering an industry-wide culture of sustainability," said Roger Casey, Chief Financial Officer, HRI. "We also want to support the industry to increase its understanding and delivery of sustainability priorities through practical...

Racing and equestrian stars will partake in the 2023 Treo Eile Christmas show on Thursday, Dec. 14 at the Emerald Equestrian Centre, including three-time Gold Cup winner Sizing John (GB) (Midnight Legend {GB}). The first event on the show programme features the HRI Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic, a team competition to showcase the best of Ireland's retrained racehorses, and it has attracted Rachael Blackmore, Jack Kennedy, Gary Carroll, and Patrick Mullins, among other notable stars, to captain the teams. The groups--consisting of a captain, two show jumping or eventing competitors,...

Racing fans may now vote for the Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) Ride of the Year Award, HRI announced on Wednesday. The winner of the online poll will be revealed at the HRI Awards on Monday, Dec. 4. The six rides were picked by Fran Berry and Davy Russell and are as follows: Ride 1: Danny Gilligan - Ash Tree Meadow - Tote Galway Plate - Galway, Aug. 2. Ride 2: Amy Jo Hayes - Redstone Well - Irish Stallion Farms EBF "Nasrullah" Premier H. - Leopardstown, July 13. Ride 3:...

The nominees for the 2023 Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) Awards have been revealed. The HRI Awards will take place early next month in Dublin. A total of 43 nominees were made for the HRI Awards, which are as follows:   Horse of the Year: Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) Galopin Des Champs (Fr) (Timos {Ger}) Energumene (Fr) (Denham Red {Fr}) State Man (Fr) (Doctor Dino {Fr})   National Hunt Award: Paul Townend Willie Mullins Gordon Elliott Barry Connell   Flat Award:...

Since its launch in 2021, Horse Racing Ireland's IRE Incentive program has awarded over €3,500,000 in €10,000 bonuses to the owners of Irish-bred winners of scheme races. The IRE Incentive scheme awards a bonus of €10,000 to owners of Irish-bred winners of selected races across the Flat and National Hunt programmes in Ireland and Britain and the owners of each eligible winner--those carrying the [Ire] suffix and Foal Levy compliant--have until the end of the following year to spend their bonus on Irish-breds at Irish sales. Over 250 individual owners...