Huge economic benefit

The sector, including breeding, training, racing, and ancillary activities, delivered €2.46bn to the economy in direct and stimulated expenditure in 2022, up 34% from 2016, and supports a total of 30,350 jobs, an increase of 1,450 in that same period.

With the breeding sector generating revenues of €819m, €264m spent by owners in training and running their horses, and €193m through racegoer spending both on and off course, the sector is providing economic stimulus across the country. Testament to Ireland’s outstanding reputation as a location for breeding and racing is the country’s 2022 position as the second largest territory by value for global public bloodstock sales. With €538m in sales achieved last year, Ireland is second only to the USA.

Over 500,000 attend racing festivals

The attraction of horse racing is evidenced by attendances at racecourses around the country. Looking at festival attendance in isolation, the top attended festivals in 2022 attracted a combined attendance figure of over half a million people. 

The number of owners and horses in training also shows significant resilience. In 2022 there were 4,757 active owner accounts in Ireland, a significant increase from the 2016 figure of 3,663. Deloitte research shows that the active owner accounts in 2022 represented 13,592 individuals and 10,208 horses that were registered in training during the year.

Large capital investment

In the six years to the end of 2022 it is estimated that capital expenditure in the breeding and racing industry hit €265m. The money was invested in both facilities and infrastructure to maintain Irish racing’s position as a premier breeding and racing territory.  As well as supporting local businesses, this investment protects the industry’s global status. 

Looking specifically at racecourse capital investments, almost €110m was invested over the period 2017 to 2022 with €57m in funding provided by HRI. This included projects in Galway, Punchestown, Naas, Leopardstown, and Roscommon, with a total of 20 racecourses receiving grant aid from HRI. The sector also generates income from overseas. Of the estimated €125m of capital investment by breeders and bloodstock auction houses in the six years to 2022, an estimated 45% came from overseas investors.

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Crowds will return to Grade 1 action at Punchestown for the first time since 2019 this weekend as the ever-popular two-day Winter Festival hosts the Unibet Morgiana Hurdle on Sunday.

Last year’s winner Abacadabras will try to repeat the feat, this time in front of the Punchestown public, where he will face a potential field of six select rivals following the latest forfeit stage today.

Gordon Elliott ended a nine-year Willie Mullins stranglehold on the Unibet Morgiana Hurdle last season and holds a pair of aces this time around with the highly touted four-year-old Zanahiyr joining Abacadabras in the list of acceptors.

Mullins unsurprisingly holds a strong hand in a race which he has previously won with Thousand Stars, Hurricane Fly on three occasions, Nichols Canyon, Faugheen, Sharjah, and Saldier with the most recent winning pair among his team for this weekend.

Improving mare Echoes In Rain and Stormy Ireland are in the Closutton team. Joseph O’Brien’s versatile Darasso completes the potential field.

Speaking this afternoon, Patrick Mullins commented: “Sharjah is just one step off the very, very best. He’s a proper Grade 1 horse. He won the Unibet Morgiana Hurdle before but he won it coming off winning the Galway Hurdle.

“He has a great record at Leopardstown at Christmas but he will run this weekend at Punchestown all being well and I’d expect a good performance but he will probably improve for it.”

Mullins this year won the Galway Hurdle on Saldier and of the Rich Ricci-owned seven-year-old he added:

“Saldier has had a super summer with Galway and Tipperary. He would have a fitness edge on the winter horses and he’s won this race before. We did try and step him up in trip last year and we might try that again so we’ll wait and see.

“We have also left Echoes In Rain and Stormy Ireland in the race this weekend,” Mullins confirmed.

Mullins has earmarked this weekend for the Closutton troops.

“This tends to be the start of the National Hunt season for us. We’re probably a week or 10 days off being full steam ahead as we had quite a dry autumn so we didn’t rush them but we will still be well represented because Punchestown is such a good track for getting good horses going.”

Cape Gentleman and Embittered look to be two standout performers in the Grade 2 BetVictor Casino Novice Chase on Saturday.

Cheltenham Festival hero Bob Olinger could make his eagerly anticipated debut over fences in Saturday’s opening BetVictor Loyalty Club Beginners Chase, a race won two years ago by Faugheen and last year by Asterion Forlonge.

The Grade 2 Liam & Valerie Brennan Florida Pearl Novice Chase is the chief supporting race on Sunday with Albert Bartlett winner Vanillier given an entry thereby Gavin Cromwell where he could face impressive Thurles winner Ballyshannon Rose for Paul Fahey.

On both Saturday and Sunday racing begins at 12:00 with tickets €15 and €10 for Students and OAP’s. Dine packages are available from €89.

To read more from this writer, click here.

And to read more in-depth and up-to-date Ireland and international horse racing sports news, click here.

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Covert recordings have shown that rules designed to protect horses from cruel deaths have been regularly ignored by one of the UK’s biggest abattoirs.

The BBC article on the investigation says that some of the slaughtered animals were once owned and trained by some of the biggest trainers in racing.

Some of these horses had previous illustrious racing careers and had won thousands of pounds over the course of their careers.

The abattoir in question told the BBC that it did not condone animal abuse but one expert believes the footage from cameras installed by campaign group Animal Aid are breaches of the regulations that abattoirs must follow.

The majority of horses seen in the footage captured came from Ireland and were young.

BBC Panorama revealed in the article that three racehorses Gordon Elliot had trained in Meath were among the many Irish horses killed at the abattoirs.

The trainer, who is currently suspended after a photo of him on a phone call sitting atop a dead horse was made public, told Panorama that none of the horses were sent to the abattoir by him.

He stated to the BBC that the horses were not under his care when they were killed.

Elliot said to the BBC that two of them were given to a horse dealer to be “rehomed if possible, and if not, to be humanely euthanised” and gave the third horse to another rider as requested by its owner.

He noted that the first time he learned of their fate was when Panorama contacted him and that he has ensured the appropriate and proper treatment and welfare of animals that have been in his possession and has rehomed a substantial number of them.

Animal Aid’s cameras captured multiple instances of apparent regulation breaches, including horses being killed in sight of each other and being shot from a distance.

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This Joint Committee will meet representatives from the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association (IRTA), the Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) today.

The Committee took the opportunity to schedule these hearings following the debates around the integrity of the horseracing industry in Ireland.

The Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine will attend the third hearing on Tuesday, 20^th July, at 09:30.

Speaking in advance of the meetings, Cathaoirleach, Jackie Cahill TD, said:

“The Committee continues its discussion with relevant individuals, bodies, and organizations in to discuss the policies and procedures in place and give them the time and place to debate the issues and highlight their own concerns.”

Horseracing in Ireland discussed by Agriculture Committee – the first in a series of meetings will commence at 9:30 am, Thursday, 8 July #seeforyourself

Watch LIVE here https://t.co/gEDhEqm5L3

Press Release https://t.co/96jz0RstFz pic.twitter.com/qpa8R1hvLi

— Houses of the Oireachtas (@OireachtasNews) July 7, 2021

The Committee meeting will be split into two sessions and will be broadcast from Committee Room 3 of Leinster House.

The first meeting will consist of representatives of the IRTA. The second session at 16:30 will have representatives from the HRI and IHRB will be speaking.

The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine has 14 Members. Nine of them are from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.

Mr. Cahill added:

“The Committee welcomed the discussion about the industry in general and to raise broader policy concerns about horseracing in Ireland with Horse Racing Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board in our first hearing, and we look forward to continue this important conversation.”

The Committee webpage on the House of the Oireachtas website has more information on the discussion.

Pix Badile wins the first at Killarney Races!
So good to be back at @KillarneyRaces #TodayInIreland
Limited crowd. Masks all around. Smiles all around , as well. #HorseRacing #Ireland pic.twitter.com/J60GD2evKT

— Today in Ireland (@todayInIreland) July 12, 2021

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The next three year deal will deliver a record number of free-to-air live racing days in Ireland.

Increased TV coverage

RTÉ will broadcast 31 days of live racing in 2021, rising to 32 live days in 2022 and in 2023.

RTÉ will continue to provide live coverage the Festivals at Fairyhouse, Punchestown, The Curragh, Galway and Leopardstown. New to RTÉ’s schedule will be the Ascot Trials Day from Naas in May. The State broadcaster will also show a series of top-quality winter Sunday meetings over the jumps.

Group Head of Sport at RTÉ, Declan McBennett, said:

“Horse racing is an integral part of the RTÉ Sport offering, and we are delighted to extend our partnership with Horse Racing Ireland and the racecourses. The trainers and jockeys in particular have proven repeatedly that they are at the very forefront of their profession internationally. We hope to see the very best of Irish equine talent over the next three years.”

RTÉ’s next live racing action will be this weekend with coverage from Fairyhouse.

RTÉ remaining racing coverage for 2021

April
4 Fairyhouse Easter Festival
5 Fairyhouse Easter Festival
27 Punchestown Festival
28 Punchestown Festival
29 Punchestown Festival
30 Punchestown Festival

May
1 Punchestown Festival
16 Naas Royal Ascot Trials Day
22 Curragh Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas
23 Curragh Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas

June
26 Curragh Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby
27 Curragh Alwasmiyah Pretty Polly Stakes

July
17 Curragh Juddmonte Irish Oaks
26 Galway Festival
27 Galway Festival
28 Galway Festival
29 Galway Festival

September
11 Leopardstown Longines Irish Champions Weekend
12 Curragh Longines Irish Champions Weeekend

October 30 Down Royal

November
14 Punchestown
28 Fairyhouse Winter Festival

December
5 Punchestown/Cork
26 Leopardstown/Limerick Christmas Festivals
27 Leopardstown/Limerick Christmas Festivals
28 Leopardstown/Limerick Christmas Festivals
29 Leopardstown/Limerick Christmas Festivals

*Navan fixture in November TBC

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A total of 87 fixtures were lost in Ireland from March to June during the Covid-19 lockdown. Racing resumed behind closed doors on June 8 with strict protocols designed to ensure race fixtures could be run in a safe and controlled manner. Only key personnel who have completed medical screening and thermal checks are permitted on track.

Those lost race meetings – allied with the current scenario of no public attendance at all fixtures held behind closed doors – have decimated attendance figures for the first six months of the year, down almost 80%.

The bloodstock sales in the first half of 2020 experienced severe interruption, with sales either deferred or moved out of Ireland. Sales of thoroughbreds at auction in Ireland for the first six months is down 87.3% year-on-year.

The number of active owners during the first six months (i.e. those making an entry) was down by 13.9%. Since the resumption of racing, there has been an upturn in the number of horses returned in training.

The number returned at any point during the first six months was down 1.6% compared with 2019, having been up by 9.1% on March 24 when racing ceased, while the number of horses-in-training at the end of June was up 6.8%  year-on-year, reflecting the resumption of a full race programme under both codes.

With no racing attendances since early March, betting with on-course bookmakers and the Tote was down 73.9%.

Commenting on the six-month statistics, HRI Chief Executive, Brian Kavanagh, said:

“2020 has been a devastating year for the country and like many other sectors, the horse racing and breeding industry has suffered greatly having effectively come to a standstill on March 24. Against that background, any comparison with previous years is futile. Nevertheless, a few key points are worth highlighting.

“The absence of attendances is having a devastating impact on racecourses and the businesses that depend on them such as on-course bookmakers, Tote, caterers and so on. Horse Racing Ireland and the racecourses are working to develop methods by which attendance can return once deemed appropriate by the Government. This is challenging and the contribution to the industry by the racecourses in continuing to race behind closed doors since June 8 is commendable.

“While traditionally the quieter part of the year, bloodstock sales figures for the first half of 2020 were decimated. The sales companies have shown flexibility with regard to their dates and HRI is working with them and Government to ensure that sales can safely resume in Ireland in August. The equivalent sales of those scheduled to be held between now and the end of the year generated €150m in turnover for Irish breeders in 2019, much of it to overseas buyers.”

With the recent announcements that both the Longines Irish Champions Weekend and the Listowel Harvest Festival will be held behind closed doors, there may be more difficult days ahead for the racing industry in the second half of 2020.

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The victory was a first winner of the season for his trainer Garvan Donnelly but it was amazingly the 13^th racecourse on which the nine-year-old Plough Boy has won.

Ger Lyons brilliant form continued when training a double at the Co. Meath venue. Luminesce (6/4f) had a length and a half in hand on Mahaaseel under Colin Keane in the Irish Stallion Farm EBF Fillies Maiden, while it was the yard’s second string, Shalaalaa (Gary Carroll) (11/4) that won the colts’ and geldings’ equivalent.

Séamie Heffernan won the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden for three-year-olds on Memorabilis (11/4), with the Aidan O’Brien-trained Galileo colt staying on well for a comfortable success.

Wayne Lordan took the route up the rail on Thomond O’Mara’s Amazing One (14/1) in Division 1 of the Sobac Soil.ie Thank You Customers Handicap before the rider made the decisive move when pacesetter Eacharn edged off the rail, allowing the filly Amazing One claim a three-parts of a length victory.

Trainer Dot Love combined with Mikey Sheehy to take the second division with The Mpex Kid (10/1), while The Thanks To All Our Frontline Workers Handicap was won by 12/1 shot Romantically for the Billy Lee/Willie McCreery combination.

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Racing began at Gowran Park with Beauchamp Bagenal (12/1) providing trainer Barry Fitzgerald and jockey Luke McAteer with their first win of the season when taking the opening Mansion Bet’s Beaten By A Head Handicap, beating Trueba at the death.

Johnny Murtagh, who trained the runner-up in the opener, soon gained consolation as So Suave (13/2) swooped late under Danny Sheehy to win the MansionBet Proud To Support Racing Handicap from Feminista.

Murtagh’s good form continued when winning his fourth race of the week in Division 1 of the Mansion Bet’s Paid As A Winner Handicap. The former Aga Khan horse Mirann (9/1) won by a half-length on his first run for Murtagh’s yard.

Gary Carroll also rolled off at double at the Co. Kilkenny venue, with wins on board Joe Murphy’s Collaborating (12/1) in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden for three-year-old colts and geldings, and Ideal Pal for Mick Mulvany, who prevailed by a short head, in division 2 of the handicap at 5.05pm.

Aidan O’Brien unveiled Roderic O’Connor’s sister, Laburnum (2/1), as she took the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden for three-year-old fillies on debut for Séamie Heffernan.

Maiden hurdle winner Takes Itall (15/8) made his first appearance on the flat in two years a triumphant one when winning Division 1 of the It’s Not Rocket Science MansionBet Maiden for Joseph O’Brien and Shane Crosse, while in-form rider Billy Lee teamed up with Co. Waterford handler Henry de Bromhead to land the second division on Hurricane Cliff (100/30).

At Limerick, Oriental Eagle (18/1), twice a Group winner in Germany, produced an excellent performance when giving Rachael Blackmore her biggest career success on the flat, in winning the Listed Martin Molony Stakes.

Blackmore edged the five-year-old into the lead as the field turned into the straight before the Tipperary-native kept the eventual winner running straight, as he won by a length from the late-closing Pondus.

The Ado McGuinness-trained Laugh A Minute (11/2), a runner-up in a Group 3 when trained in Britain by Roger Varian, was the opening winner of jockey Ronan Whelan’s double at the Munster track.

Whelan then produced a brave ride on Global Pass (9/2) to claim the It’s Good To Be Back At Limerick Handicap for trainer Richard O’Brien. The rider moved his mount onto the rail at the two-furlong marker before squeezing up inside Kinch to win.

Half Nutz (4/1) was a length winner of the Well Done To All Frontline Staff Handicap for Robbie Colgan and Sheila Lavery, with the Meath rider also winning on Shanroe (11/1) in the Patrickswell Maiden for older horses for Karl Thornton.

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Three Group 2 contests have been added to the two-day meeting, namely the Curragh Cup (14 furlongs) for older horses and the Railway and Balanchine (both six furlongs) for two-year-olds.

The Tattersalls Gold Cup, now open to three-year-olds and upwards, will be the feature race on a new Curragh card on Sunday 26 July.

Dundalk will host the Group 3 Ballysax Stakes over 10.7 furlongs on Sunday July 12, the first day that the newly resurfaced track will be in operation, as the final leg of the European Road to the Kentucky Derby. As a result, the Listed 12-furlong Nijinsky Stakes will move a week later than originally indicated, from July 9 to July 16, and will remain at Leopardstown.

HRI has also confirmed a change of date for the €200,000 Irish EBF Ballyhane Stakes which will be run three weeks later than originally planned at Naas on Sunday, August 23. This will allow two-year-olds more time to get runs before the race given the delayed start to the season.

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Horse Racing Ireland the fixtures for June and July last month, but have added a further 39 in the last 5 months of 2020. The total number of fixtures for the year according to  RTE is 331 compared to 370 the previous year. September and October will be busy months seen an extra 10 and 11 meetings respectively. Three all weather meetings will take place once the flat season comes to and end. These will take place Monday, Wednesday and Friday in November.

Director of Horse Racing Ireland, Jason Morris said, “We have worked closely with all racecourses to develop a fixture list for the remainder of 2020 which is appropriate for both the horse population and each individual track, and we are very grateful for the excellent co-operation received from racecourse managers”. He continued, “We have spread the additional opportunities throughout the year and over both codes to reflect the meetings that were lost over the March to June period”.

Mr Morris said there is still some doubts over Laytown and Listowel festivals. He said,”The meeting at Laytown on 1 September will be kept under review to determine, based on the government guidance that will apply at the time, whether it is possible to implement the necessary protocols at the beach venue”. In regards to Listowel he said, “Depending upon social distancing requirements and potential crowd limitations in late September, Listowel could host mixed cards on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of their seven-day Festival”.

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