Horse Racing may be gearing up for the annual Cheltenham Festival next week but the eyes of Horse Racing Ireland are firmly fixed on a more distant future as plans were unveiled yesterday for Irish Champions’ Weekend in September with total prize money up for grabs of €3.73 million.
The two-day extravaganza will take place on September 13th and 14th and will feature two of the country’s biggest races in the calendar, the Irish Champion Stakes and the Irish St Leger at Leopardstown and the Curragh respectively.
“Irish Champions Weekend will, in effect, become the first leg of a European triple crown of end-of-season festivals, to be followed by the Arc meeting in France and British Champions Weekend,” said Horse Racing Ireland Chief Executive Brian Kavanagh.
“This will be a showcase for Flat racing in Ireland, creating a high-profile event to attract the best horses in the world and to demonstrate the value and importance of the Irish Flat breeding and racing industry.
“We believe that it will quickly establish itself as a major racing attraction at home and become part of the calendar for international flat racing fans.
“Flat racing worldwide is moving more and more towards high-quality international meetings and it is appropriate that with Irish Champions Weekend, Ireland will now have a meeting which can bear comparison with all other major international racedays.”
The race programme will include five Group Ones, two Group Twos, three Group Three races and four Premier handicaps each worth €150,000.
Total prize-money will amount to €3.73 million with the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown being raised from €750,000 to €1m.
Leopardstown’s manager Pat Keogh said: “The record of the Irish Champion Stakes as one of the world’s top flat races gives us the perfect starting point for this exciting new concept for Irish racing.
“With more than €2m in prize-money on offer, Leopardstown looks forward to welcoming the cream of international racing to the first of two wonderful days of competition.”
Paul Hensey, the Curragh’s general manager, said: “This is a unique opportunity to create a new sporting weekend of international significance.
“We will celebrate the 100th running of the Irish St Leger this year. In addition we have the Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes and Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes, which has been won by six of the last nine European champion two-year-olds.”
