Barberstown Castle was today unveiled as a major player on the Irish hotel and sporting hospitality scene with the announcement of a dual racecourse sponsorship that will see the county Kildare venue feature at both Punchestown, the home of Irish jump racing and The Curragh, home of Irish Flat racing.

The newly sponsored €125,000 Grade 1 Barberstown Castle Novice two mile chase is one of the features on Punchestown Festival Thursday. The race is arguably one of the most prestigious of its category on the calendar with an all-star line-up of previous winners including Douvan, Moscow Flyer, Un De Sceaux, War Of Attrition, Chacun Pour Soi and Big Zeb. British trainers have fared well in this contest with Tom Geroge’s Gods Own and the Philip Hobbs trained Captain Chris both landing the spoils. This feature sponsorship is part of a multi-year accommodation partner arrangement at the famous jump season grand finale.

Meanwhile, across the county at flat racing headquarters, Barberstown Castle will become an official hotel partner of the racecourse in an overall package that includes the sponsorship of the five race ‘Barberstown Castle Series’. The first leg of this initiative kicks off on the opening day of the flat season, this Saturday 26^th March and takes in races at some of the major classic weekends before the finale on 23^rd October.

Amanda Torrens, the new owner of Barberstown Castle who also has enjoyed success as a racehorse owner commented on the announcement: “Our vision is clear, we wish to establish Barberstown Castle as the first choice for the racing community, horse tourism and bloodstock industry. We embrace the wonderful opportunity to partner with both the home of Irish jump and flat racing. Barberstown Castle is open for business and we look forward to welcoming the racing family here. It is wonderful to be in a position to combine two of my passions, racing and Barberstown in this exciting venture”.

Highly regarded in the hotel industry, Barberstown Castle’s Managing Director Ted Robinson welcomed the news: “ These are exciting times at Barberstown Castle because with racing power houses like The Curragh and Punchestown preparing to launch their seasons we here at the hotel are preparing to relaunch and rebuild this wonderful historic venue. We have 60 bedrooms, are located 30 minutes from Dublin airport, 20 minutes from both racecourses. We are situated at the gateway to the thoroughbred county and Hidden Heartlands and we are excited for what this venture will bring.

Punchestown’s Conor O’Neill commented: “This partnership is the ideal collaboration in the sense that both the Barberstown Castle and Punchestown teams share the ethos that the racing experience does not begin and end at the racecourse. Indeed, it is the hospitality, value, quality of food and accommodation and the money can’t buy aspect of genuine friendliness that sets the experience apart and makes visitors return again and again. This is why the whole package needs to work. There is no more powerful marketing tool than the word of mouth and we look forward to working with Amanda, Ted and the Barberstown team to achieve this joint ambition. O’Neill added   “We’d like to take this opportunity to thank outgoing sponsor Ryanair who have transported so many of our overseas clients to the festival and will continue to do so before their onward journey to our hotel partners like Barberstown Castle!”

Evan Arkwright, Curragh Racing and Sponsorship Manager said,
“We are delighted that Amanda Torrens and her team at Barberstown Castle have joined our portfolio of sponsors and look forward to developing a long and successful partnership with particular emphasis to work with them on a variety of initiatives to raise the profile of the hotel and to ensure the Castle is one of the premier destinations for our many overseas visitors. The race series will be an exciting addition to our season and it is very positive that stable staff will be acknowledged for their hard work and dedication

The Barberstown Castle Series will kick off this Saturday, 26^th March, followed by races taking place during the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Festival, Juddmonte Irish Oaks Weekend and Goffs Million Race Day, while the finale of the series will feature on Sunday 23^rd October.

The winning owner, trainer and jockey of all five races will win a voucher to include an overnight stay in the hotel, while the trainers of the first four horses in each race will accumulate points with the highest point scorer winning a cash prize to be donated to the charity of their choice.

The Grade 1 Barberstown Castle Novice Champion Chase will take place on Thursday 28^th April on day three of the 2022 Punchestown Festival.

Attention in the Thoroughbred County will turn to a Festival of Flat racing this weekend as a new season begins at The Curragh this Saturday followed by Naas on Sunday.

On a weekend that promises some fantastic fare, the 2022 Flat season will get underway on Saturday with the traditional curtain-raiser of the Castlefield Stud-sponsored opening two-year-old maiden of the season on a card that features the €100,000 Paddy Power Irish Lincolnshire and the Group 3 Lodge Park Stud Irish EBF Park Express Stakes.
At Naas on Sunday, the Plusvital Devoy Stakes is the highlight along with the ultra-competitive Madrid Handicap for three-year-olds.

Fresh from his Cheltenham Festival success last week, trainer Joseph O’Brien expects to be busy on the opening weekend of the Flat season with 14 entries across both cards.
“It was great to have a winner at Cheltenham,” said O’Brien. “It’s a tough place to compete so to come away with a winner was brilliant but you always seem to be moving onto the next thing in racing.

“So we’re looking forward to getting the Irish Flat season going at The Curragh and Naas. All the dreams are alive and well at this time of the year and hopefully we’ll get off to a nice start.

“We are hoping to run Emphatic Answer in the Lodge Park Stud Park Express Stakes in The Curragh. She’s a good progressive filly who won a handicap over course and distance last year and finished up when second at listed level in the Garnet Stakes at Naas, so we’re looking forward to her running well on Saturday.”

Looking ahead to Sunday, O’Brien added: “Patrick Sarsfield is in the Plusvital Devoy Stakes. He is a nice horse who won at Group 3 level in the past in the Meld Stakes at Leopardstown. He’s in good form. We are happy with him and we thought this would be an ideal opportunity to get him going. We are hoping that he’ll get his season off to a positive start in Naas on Sunday.”

Jessica Harrington has made no secret of the main focus of attention of her string turning towards the Flat season and she too looks set to be well represented at her local racecourses this weekend.

Harrington has Laelaps in the Paddy Power Irish Lincolnshire, a horse who her daughter and assistant, Kate, hopes will be well suited by conditions at this time of year.
“Laelaps is a bit of a soft-ground horse but has done very well over the winter and is an awful lot more relaxed now compared to last year. He’s been gelded since last year and we’re very happy with his work,” Harrington reported.

The famous Commonstown stable will be hoping to get the season off to the best possible start in the opening Alkumait Standing At Castlefield Stud With A €10,000 Bonus Irish EBF Maiden where they run the filly Ocean Quest in the first juvenile race on the calendar.
“Ocean Quest has been exciting us at home,” she added “She’s by first-season sire Sioux Nation and she’d done everything nicely so we hope she’ll run a nice race.”

Harrington won the Plusvital Devoy Stakes at Naas with Still Standing in 2019 and on Sunday relies on the talented Barrington Court who has certainly shown a liking for the track.

“Barrington Court is in the Plusvital Devoy Stakes. She won two Listed races, the Bluebell Stakes and the Finale Stakes, in the space of three weeks Naas at the end of 2020 so we know she likes the track.
“We’re very, very happy with her. She’s flying and ready to go but we just wouldn’t want the ground to dry out too much.”

A notable aspect of the weekend is the emergence of new sponsors at The Curragh, in the form of Castlefield Stud, who will reward the winning breeder of the opening race with a free nomination to their first-season sire Alkumait, and Barberstown Castle, recently acquired by racehorse owner, Amanda Torrens.

Thanks to The Curragh’s ongoing partnership with Cavalor Equine Nutrition, all winning horses will receive an equine wellness hamper, while, Moyglare Stud will continue to sponsor the stable staff canteen, ensuring that the staff who care for the horses and are working on the day can enjoy a complimentary meal.

Then, it is on to Naas the following day, Sunday, March 27, where Plusvital, Compas Stallions and Equuip are among the key sponsors and owners with runners have access to first-class hospitality and facilities as they watch their charges perform.

The Irish Flat season will get underway at The Curragh with an eight-race card beginning at 1.25pm on Saturday, while Naas also host an eight-race card on Sunday with four of the races being sponsored by Compas Stallions. Micheál Orlandi, owner of Compas Stallions, will reward the winning breeder of each of his four sponsored races with a free nomination to the the named stallions of the race and the Compas Stallions Handicap winner will get a free nomination to a Compas Stallion of their choice. In addition to that, the winning breeder of the Plusvital Devoy Stakes will also win €500 worth of Plusvital products.

A key element to the weekend festival is providing visitors with some insight as to what is involved on race day and also to consider what might occur, at a time of year when everyone has a dream and the champions of tomorrow are still to emerge, while the anticipation that comes with the existing stars returning to the exhibit their class is also thick in the air.

At The Curragh, included in the entertainment will be a variety of parade ring chats with leading trainers and jockeys as they look forward to the season, together with a number of very special guests.