Horse Racing Ireland has announced a three-year partnership with the Aer Lingus College Football Classic that will see horse racing become part of the annual celebration of American College Football in Ireland.
There will be a Stars and Stripes themed race night at Leopardstown Racecourse which this year will take place on Thursday 24th August.
The American themed race event will feature live music and American Football activations along with a full race card of on course action.
This year’s Classic featuring Notre Dame Vs Navy is estimated to be worth in excess of €147m to the Irish economy and the game will take place two days later on Saturday, August 26th.
Leopardstown Racecourse’s Stars and Stripes race fixture will be one of more than 50 official events taking place in the week preceding the game which will attract 40,000 International visitors and is already a complete sell out.
Ireland has a rich racing history and is the training location for many of the world’s leading thoroughbreds.
Furthermore, there is a strong relationship between Ireland and the US in the Racing and Breeding Industry. Last year alone, US-based buyers spent €18.8m on Irish thoroughbred horses an increase of €2.1m on the previous year’s sales value.
The 2022 sales figures to US buyers represents a 55% increase over the course of the past five years from a figure of €8.5m recorded in 2018.
A total of 142 Irish horses were sold and exported to the US in 2022 for a combined value of €18,888,705. While the North American bloodstock market (Thoroughbred market) is the most valuable in the world with public sales in 2022 of over €1.2bn.
Ireland’s public bloodstock sales were worth €538m last year, the second highest in the world.
Private sales of Irish bloodstock in 2022 were estimated to be worth around €120m, according to the HRI commissioned Deloitte report – Social and Economic Impact of Irish Thoroughbred Breeding & Racing 2023 which was published last month.
This places the total value of Irish bloodstock sales at €658m for last year.
Over a quarter of all registered owners of Irish racehorses are based overseas and the US is home to approximately 20% (243) of these overseas owners making it the second largest overseas market for Irish racehorse ownership behind the UK.
“The US Bloodstock market is the biggest in the world, but the international reputation of Irish horse-breeding is driving significant interest from US buyers and resulting in year-on-year growth in bloodstock sales to US buyers,” said Paul Dermody, Commercial and Marketing Director at Horse Racing Ireland.
“The team at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing are doing a fantastic job in attracting US buyers to Ireland and growing that segment of the overseas buyer market in both public and private sales.”
“The ties between Irish and US horseracing have never been stronger with a host of Irish-bred Grade 1 winners in the US in 2022 and the likes of Joseph O’Brien being backed by US investors to set up a satellite yard in Saratoga in New York. HRI’s partnership with the Aer Lingus College Football Classic will allow us to develop new avenues to connect with US buyers and further enhance our offering to US buyers.”
“Our two organisations have a mutual ambition to develop our respective sports by introducing new audiences,” added Tim Husbands, CEO at Leopardstown.
“As the only racecourse in Dublin, we are often the first encounter many tourists have with Irish Racing, so it is important for us to deliver a great experience. The creation of the Stars and Stripes Race Day is to develop a sporting event that celebrates the best Irish music, sport, and dancing with fun of an American tailgate party.”
“The Classic is going to ignite a great atmosphere around Dublin city, will enhance the tourism experience for the many thousands of US visitors, will help create a great economic return to the city, and we are really excited to be a part of it.”
“Horseracing in Ireland is very popular and plays an important role in Irish – US relations, so to have the Stars and Stripes race meeting in Leopardstown Racecourse on the Thursday evening before the game provides a wonderful opportunity for US visitors to experience the fun, the ambiance and everything that Leopardstown has to offer,” said Classic Commercial Director Brendan Meehan.
“There are natural synergies between those who attend horseracing and those that will come to our game. They want to experience something different, they want to have fun and witness the intrigue, the razzamatazz and the spectacle.”
