Seven Group 1 races, more than €5 million in prize money, international World Pool exposure and an increasingly sophisticated mix of sponsorship, hospitality, fashion and entertainment will make Irish Champions Festival much more than a race meeting when it returns to Leopardstown and the Curragh this weekend.
Irish Champions Festival takes place at Leopardstown on Saturday, September 12th and the Curragh on Sunday, September 13th, bringing together the best of the Irish Flat racing season over two days.
Now in its 13th year, the Festival has become an important international shop window for Irish racing, breeding and bloodstock, as well as a major commercial platform for the brands associated with it.
This year’s renewal will offer more than €5 million in prize money and, for the first time, seven Group 1 races across the two racecourses.
The audience watching and wagering on the Festival extends far beyond those coming through the gates in Dublin and Kildare, while the owners, trainers, breeders and bloodstock businesses represented over the weekend form part of one of Ireland’s most internationally successful sporting industries.
A Powerful Saturday at Leopardstown
The nine-race Leopardstown card contains three Group 1 contests following the elevation of the Golden Fleece Stakes for two-year-olds.
It joins the Coolmore America ‘Justify’ Matron Stakes and the flagship Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at the top of a programme that also features Ballylinch Stud, the Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund, TonyBet and the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s World Pool among the brands attached to races.
The €1.25 million Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes has attracted a nine-strong field with a strong international complexion.
Aidan O’Brien holds three entries in Constitution River, Lambourn and Hawk Mountain, while Almaqam, Item and Wimbledon Hawkeye provide a significant British challenge. Purview for Dermot Weld, Hotazhell for Jessica Harrington and Donnacha O’Brien’s A Boy Named Susie complete a field that gives the title sponsor a suitably international showcase for the feature race of the weekend.
The promotion of the Golden Fleece to Group 1 level is important commercially as well as competitively.
Group 1 status increases global interest, bloodstock value and media attention and adds another premium sponsorship and hospitality asset to the Festival.
Aperol Creates New Permanent Presence
One of the most visible developments at Leopardstown this year is the creation of the Aperol Terrace, a new premium area overlooking the parade ring.
The venue is being positioned around Aperol’s spritz portfolio and will operate as one of the social focal points during Saturday’s Festival programme.
Creating a dedicated branded space within the racecourse gives Aperol a physical presence at Leopardstown and gives the racecourse another premium social asset around which to develop customer experiences.
Race sponsorship remains an important part of racing’s commercial mix, but branded spaces offer the potential for longer-term engagement, hospitality, content creation and direct interaction with racegoers. They also enable a consumer brand to become part of the experience of attending the venue rather than simply appearing in the name of a race.
The Aperol Terrace also supports the continued positioning of major race days as social occasions that extend beyond the racing itself.
Brands Beyond the Race Titles
That broader experience will be particularly evident on Saturday.
Louis Copeland & Sons and Ardán Collective are partnering on the Champions of Style Award, with a dedicated Fashion Zone in the Legacy Lounge providing additional activation space.
O’Driscolls Irish Whiskey, the Official Whiskey Partner of HRI Racecourses, will activate through performances from the Reel Irish Dancers, branded Panama hats and an O’Driscolls Fillies Cocktail.
The programme also includes the Irish Champion Stakes trophy display, live illustration and post-racing entertainment.
The important commercial element is the number of different touchpoints now being created around the racegoer’s day.
Racing has traditionally been particularly strong at selling naming rights and corporate hospitality. The opportunity is increasingly to create spaces and experiences in which brands can interact directly with an audience before, between and after the races.
Leopardstown admission is €35 for adults, with children aged 14 and under free, while premium packages include restaurant, pavilion and grandstand experiences. The 1888 Restaurant has already sold out, and the Real Deal food, drink, betting and admission package is also close to capacity.
Four Group 1s at the Curragh
Sunday shifts the Festival to the Curragh and a somewhat different commercial proposition.
Four Group 1 races form the centrepiece of the programme, headed by the Comer Group International Irish St Leger, the fifth and final Irish Classic of the Flat season.
It is joined by the Moyglare Stud Stakes, Bar One Racing Flying Five Stakes and Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes, creating a concentrated afternoon of elite racing.
The sponsor line-up also reflects the wider commercial ecosystem surrounding Irish racing.
Goffs and Tattersalls Ireland connect the Festival with the bloodstock sales industry, Moyglare and the Irish Stallion Farms EBF with breeding, Comer Group with corporate Ireland and Bar One Racing with wagering.
This is one of the strengths of Irish Champions Festival as a commercial property.
Its sponsors are not simply attaching themselves to an audience. Many are businesses whose own commercial interests are directly connected to the quality and international reputation of Irish racing.
The Curragh also adds fashion, family entertainment, music and the Parade of Champions with Treo Eile to broaden Sunday’s appeal beyond the core racing audience.
World Pool Extends the Reach
One of the Festival’s most important commercial elements will take place largely out of sight of those attending either racecourse.
World Pool brings together betting liquidity from participating jurisdictions internationally and places Irish Champions Festival within a global wagering marketplace.
For sponsors, that matters because a race name seen at Leopardstown or the Curragh can travel through international broadcasts, betting platforms, racecards, digital coverage and specialist racing media.
That international visibility is particularly valuable to the Irish Champions Festival because the global reputation of Irish horses, trainers, breeders and bloodstock businesses is fundamental to the economics of the industry.
Sport for Business Perspective
The Irish Champions Festival demonstrates how the commercial model around major sporting occasions continues to evolve.
Racing remains the foundation, with more than €5 million in prize money, seven Group 1 races, and the likelihood of some of the world’s leading horses competing, providing an exceptional sporting product.
Around that, though, there is an increasingly layered commercial proposition.
There are international race sponsors, betting and World Pool integration, bloodstock businesses, hospitality, fashion partnerships, food and beverage brands, family entertainment and premium experiences.
The development of the new Aperol Terrace at Leopardstown is a good illustration of the direction of travel.
Commercial partnerships are moving beyond signage and naming rights towards physical spaces and experiences that become part of the venue itself.
Leopardstown provides the larger Dublin social and corporate occasion on Saturday.
The Curragh follows with four Group 1 races and the international prestige of the Irish St Leger on Sunday.
Together they provide two venues, distinct audiences, seven races at the highest level and a commercial reach extending well beyond the people physically attending the racecourses.
That makes the Irish Champions Festival not only the showcase weekend for Irish Flat racing, but also a strong international commercial shop window for Irish sport, and for Ireland itself.
Horse Racing Ireland, Leopardstown racecourse, the Curragh, and RTÉ are full members of Sport for Business. AIB are partners of our Gaelic Games coverage.
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Image Credit: Irish Champions Festival
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