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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It is the first year that 15-year-old Kris Rohrssen has competed at this level. In Sunday’s competition, the Irish youngster was competing against much more experienced drivers.

In 2021 Rohrssen and his pony Checkmate won the gold medal in the FEI European Carriage Driving Championships for U14 (Children) in Selestat, France.

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Pender, partnering the Marion Hughes-owned and bred mare Irish Sport Horse HHS Fortune, won The Speed Derby for the award of the Paul Darragh Perpetual Memorial Trophy. The winning combination were two second ahead of Tyrone’s Niamh McEvoy with Aconzina PS. Trevor Breen took third spot with Gonzalo in a class where Ireland filled the first five places.

The Anglesea Stakes went to Egyptian Nayel Nassar with Coronado. Ireland’s anchor in Friday’s Longines Nations Cup of Ireland, Cian O’Connor, finished as runner-up with his World Championship mount C Vier 2.

The combination were just over half a second behind the winner in the 14-horse jump-off, where nine of the jump-off combinations were representing Ireland. Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat finished third with Albfuehren’s Maddox.

Tomorrow’s, and the week’s highlight, is the Longines Nations Cup of Ireland for the award of the Aga Khan Perpetual Trophy.

Details on Ireland’s Nations Cup team can be found here.

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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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The national broadcaster will also show live TV coverage on eight of the first 20 days following the resumption of Irish racing on 8^th June. Hugh Cahill will present the live coverage with analysis from Jane Mangan, Ted Walsh and Ruby Walsh.

RTÉ coverage returns for the first Classics of the Flat racing season at The Curragh, the Irish 2000 Guineas on June 12 and the Irish 1000 Guineas on June 13.

RTÉ Sport will broadcast new hour-long evening programmes on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on consecutive Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with ten extra meetings confirmed up to mid-July.

The new programmes will run from 7-8pm on Friday evenings and 5-6pm on Saturdays and Sundays, and will have two live races with previews and analysis, interviews from the track, as well as replays from action earlier that evening.

Brian Kavanagh, Chief Executive of Horse Racing Ireland, said of today’s announcement: 

“RTÉ has always been very supportive of racing in Ireland and today’s announcement confirms that commitment. The new one-hour evening programmes are an opportunity for Irish racing to attract people to our sport and educate those new fans on what makes racing so exciting.”

RTÉ Racing coverage in June on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player

Friday 12^th June, Curragh
Saturday 13^th June, Curragh
Friday 19^th June, Gowran Park
Saturday 20^th June, Naas
Sunday 21^st June, Leopardstown
June 26^th – Curragh
June 27^th – Curragh (The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby)
June 28^th – Curragh

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Following consultation between Horse Racing Ireland and the Government, the resumption of the sport has been brought forward from the 29^th June date announced last week by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Horse Racing Ireland’s chief executive Brian Kavanagh had stressed to Government that Irish racing could again be safely staged behind closed doors, just as it had been for 10 meetings before the March shutdown.