Ireland will for the first time in 2018 stage a Group 1 sprint for older horses, with the Derrinstown Stud Flying Five S. on Irish Champions Weekend in September upgraded to top-level status. The Flying Five will be just the fourth Group 1 sprint in Europe staged over five furlongs, and it is positioned between two others: the G1 Nunthorpe S. in Britain and the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye in France. The Flying Five, which will be the sixth Group 1 staged on Irish Champions Weekend, will also see a purse increase of €50,000 in 2018, making it worth €350,000.
Jason Morris, Director of Racing at Horse Racing Ireland, said, “We are delighted to have secured an upgrade for the Flying Five as it has been a long-held ambition of HRI to create a first Group 1 sprint opportunity for older horses in Ireland and we have strategically increased prizemoney for the race over the past few years with a view to improving its quality. This policy has now reaped dividends with horses of the calibre of Sole Power and Caravaggio winning the race in recent years and we will now have a true championship sprint event in which to showcase the top Irish and international sprinters at The Curragh on Longines Irish Champions Weekend.”
Other upgrades to the Irish Champions Weekend programme are the promotion of the Willis Tower Watson Champions Juvenile Turf to a Group 2, and the conversion of a 2-year-old fillies' maiden into a restrictive listed race for 2-year-old winners.
Upgrades have also been made to the Irish stayers' programme: The 14-furlong Stanterra S. for fillies and mares on July 12 will be upgraded to a Group 3, while on May 9 there will be a new listed race at Gowran Park for fillies and mares four and up over 14 furlongs. Leopardstown will host a new 3-year-olds' only listed race over 14 furlongs on July 26.
A fourth new listed race added to the Irish programme will be a 5 1/2-furlong race restricted to 3-year-old fillies at Naas on May 7. Other changes approved by the European Pattern Committee for 2018 are a decrease in distance of the Listed 2,000 Guineas Trial on Apr. 14 from eight furlongs to seven furlongs; and the movement of the Listed Patton S. from April to Mar. 2, with the distance increased a furlong to one mile. That €75,000 race is part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby European Series.
Further Changes To Pattern Races…
The European Pattern Committee has confirmed a number of other changes across the continent. The committee has put a specific focus on the staying programme for fillies' and mares' for 2018, upgrading Goodwood's Lillie Langtry S. to a Group 2 and creating three new Group 3s-one each in Britain, Ireland and France-and three new listed races.
The Committee has upgraded 13 pattern races and created nine new listed races in 2018. The Flying Five is the only Group 1 upgrade, but fourth races are upgraded to Group 2: Chester's Huxley S., Goodwood's Lillie Langtry S., Deauville's Calvados S. and Leopardstown's Golden Fleece S. Upgraded to Group 3 are York's Silver Cup, Newcastle's Hoppings S., Leopardstown's Challenge S., Deauville's Six Perfections S., Goodwood's March S., Dundalk's Mercury S. and Saint-Cloud's Belle de Nuit S. New listed races for 2018 include the Investec Derby Trial at Epsom, which was previously a conditions race.
The Committee downgraded two pattern and five listed races (see accompanying table). It also implemented a new rule that no handicaps can offer black-type, which saw the removal of black-type from York's Hambleton H. and Royal Ascot's Sandringham H. Ascot announced that its Wolferton S., now as a straight listed race, moves to Tuesday's card from Saturday's at Royal Ascot, and the Listed Windsor Castle S. moves to Saturday. The Sandringham moves from Wednesday to Friday. In addition, the Queen's Vase moves from Friday to Wednesday.
The Committee expressed concern at its meeting about the state and future of the racing and breeding industries in Italy, with the number of overseas runners and the quality of the country's black-type races continuing to fall. The country's sole remaining Group 1 race, the Lydia Tesio, is on the watch list for downgrade in 2019.
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