Ireland has been chosen as China’s preferred international partner as the country seeks to establish a racehorse breeding and racing sector over the next three years.  The announcement was made as part of a trade mission to China and is expected to be worth in the region of €40 million in terms of exports.
Coolmore Stud in Tipperary will supply the first breeding horses to the Tianjin Equine Culture City which it is hoped will in time become a match for centres such as Kentucky in the US or Newmarket in the UK.  Coolmore will also host an increased number of Chinese agriculture students looking to learn about the industry.
The project will see the constriction of 4,000 horse boxes and a number of racing tracks as well as other ancillary services and is budgeted to cost €2 billion.
“This project has the potential to provide a very wide range of business opportunities,” said Simon Coveney, Minister for Agriculture, Marine and Food.  “It should facilitate the development of a major export market for horses and expertise from Ireland”.
The partnership with Ireland is the first Chinese government involvement in an overseas joint venture in horse racing and breeding. The sport was banned as being immoral in 1949 but plans are now afoot to host the first international race meeting at Tianjin in 2014.
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