University students will be given free entry on Longines Irish Champions Weekend at Leopardstown and the Curragh in September following the renewed support for the initiative by Godolphin.
The Dubai based global thoroughbred breeding and racing entity is itself sponsored by Emirates Airline and adds lustre again to an event that has become one of Ireland’s most blue chip sporting occasions.
Longings are the title sponsor for the two days racing with brands including Quipco, Jaguar, Louis Copeland, Willis Towers Watson, the Palmerston Estate and KPMG all involved as well.
2016 will be the third year of the joint promotion of the two days racing under the single banner of Champions’ Weekend and the initiative has proved a major winner in terms of creating an Irish event on the global racing calendar.
The Godolphin partnership means that students who register in advance online will be given free entry to both racecourses September 10th and 11th.
Godolphin will also invite 100 students each day to participate in a private tour of Godolphin’s Kildangan Stud, followed by hospitality at the races.
There will be a special prize open to all who participate in the tours, where two students will win a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Dubai.
A group of students were invited to Kildangan Stud in County Kildare yesterday where Aoife Costello from DCU (pictured above) met Night of Thunder, a first year stallion at the stud who won over €1 million in prize money during his career and now commands a stud fee of €30,000 for every moment of passion that results in a foal.
“The Godolphin student initiative introduced on Longines Irish Champions Weekend last year was a huge success and I welcome Godolphin’s continuation of this sponsorship,” said Horse Racing Ireland CEO Brian Kavanagh.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for horse racing fans to have an exclusive tour of Kildangan Stud before enjoying two of the best days’ racing in the calendar.”
“More importantly, with Godolphin’s support, this kind of initiative helps the growth and long term future of our industry while helping to attract a new generation of fans to horse racing.”
Racing has successfully reached out to the student population with specific race days targeted at particular colleges. The long term benefit of such an investment will be felt over time and attendance at last week’s Punchestown Festival topped 114,000 with Saturday’s crowd of over 30,000 almost double that which attended either of the two Rugby Champions’ Cup semi finals in England.
Derek McGrath who steered the old Heineken Cup for almost 20 years is now the CEO at the Curragh Racecourse.
