Jason Morris

Twelve fewer black-type races will be run in Europe in 2024 following the approval of the programme by the European Pattern Committee (EPC) which sounded a note of caution regarding "the reported increasing exports of quality horses overseas". France's Prix Saint-Alary will has been downgraded from Group 1 to Group 2 status and is one of five Group races to have been demoted, while Britain's G3 Sovereign S., traditionally run at Salisbury, will not be staged. In Ireland, the Salsabil S. has been upgraded from a Listed race to a...

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...

The Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (ITBA)'s Flat Seminar, The Distance Debate, was held in conjunction with the Derby Festival at the Curragh on June 30. The seminar featured a panel of top experts--Kevin Blake, Stuart Boman, Ado McGuinness, Jason Morris and John Oxx, with ITBA Chairman Cathy Grassick taking on hosting duties. The discussion--Sprinters, Stayers and Everything in Between--analyzed breeding for different distances to suit market demands, as well as changes in trends over the past number of years and what the future might look like. The panel's lively discussion...

Italy's major races will see the most significant downgrades among European countries after the European Pattern Committee announced alterations to the 2023 Flat programme Wednesday, as a host of that country's major races are set to be demoted in status. There will be 827 black-type races run in Europe this year, compared to the 852 in 2022, while group races have been cut by 13 to 412 and listed races drop to 415 from 427. One of the most significant changes to the Irish programme comes in the case of...

All Pattern and listed races staged in Europe in 2021 were reviewed by the European Pattern Committee (EPC) at their annual meeting, which was held virtually on Friday, Jan. 21. The EPC sanctioned 851 black-type races (854 in 2021) to be held in Europe in 2022, of which, 425 were group races (427 in 2021) and 426 listed races (427 in 2021), a reduction of three on 2021. Besides upgrading and downgraded races, the EPC also appointed Jason Morris, the Director of Racing at Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) to replace...

Forty-eight hour declarations, adopted in Ireland from June 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, will become permanent after receiving the vote of approval from the board of Horse Racing Ireland. "The HRI Board accepted that there were many positive reasons for retaining 48-hour declarations on a permanent basis," said Jason Morris, director of racing at Horse Racing Ireland. "Significant commercial, marketing and operational benefits have been identified including the promotion of our sport by media and the betting industry. "48-hour declarations are considered essential by our media rights...

Four additional Dundalk fixtures have been added for early 2021 to cope with the recent high number of entries at the track and the significant number of horses that have been balloted out of races at Dundalk's last three meetings. The additional meetings will take place on Jan. 11 (afternoon), Jan. 20 (evening), Feb. 1 (afternoon) and Feb. 17 (afternoon). Jason Morris, HRI director of racing, said, "We have had representations from the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association, the Restricted Trainers Association and the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners, all of...