HRI

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) welcomed more than 140 representatives from across the racing industry, government, education, and the local community to the National Equine Campus (NEC) Stakeholder Engagement Day at the Racing Academy & Centre of Education (RACE) on Monday. The event provided attendees with an opportunity to learn more about plans for the National Equine Campus, a transformative redevelopment project that will expand the role of the current RACE facility to become a national centre for education, training, wellbeing, rehabilitation, and high-performance services for the Irish racing industry.  Guests...

The GAIN the Advantage Series returns for 2026, Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), in partnership with GAIN Equine Nutrition announced on Wednesday. The 2026 GAIN the Advantage Series will get underway on Thursday, June 11 at Bulmers Live at Leopardstown Racecourse and will span across a further five race meetings throughout the summer. Listowel Racecourse will join the roster for 2026, hosting the final leg on Monday, September 21, the second day of their seven-day Harvest Festival. Ballinrobe (Monday, June 21), Fairyhouse (Wednesday, July 1), Down Royal (Friday, July 17) and...

Thurles Racecourse will continue to operate through March 2027, following discussions between Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and Thurles Racing Company. The first meeting of next season is scheduled for October. Last August, it was announced the course was to close with immediate effect after the Molony family, who had owned the track since the early 1900s, decided to retire from racing. After a public outcry championed by Willie Mullins among others, an agreement was reached to continue for another year. Riona Molony said, "We are pleased to continue this short-term...

The ITBA Next Generation has announced the introduction of the ITBA Next Generation Breeders' Grant, sponsored by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and the Irish EBF. The grant will be awarded annually, and with immediate effect in 2026, to young breeders in recognition of the achievements of horses they have bred. In year one, it will be awarded to two young breeders - one in the Flat racing category and one in the National Hunt racing category. The inaugural recipients of the ITBA Next Generation Breeders' Grant are Joann Lyons and...

The Horse Racing Ireland-backed first aid training and RACE Junior Academy workshop are reported to have been a big hit as both events reached full capacity recently.  The HRI first aid training took place at the Curragh and Fairyhouse racecourses and attracted 60 participants on February 10 and 17 while over 50 people gained hands-on experience and took their first steps towards a career in racing at RACE, which opened its doors to 50 teenagers between February 16 and 20.  The courses at the Curragh and Fairyhouse were fully funded...

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) is embarking on a pre-market consultation (PMC), aimed at engaging international developers, investors and operators, in order to explore the next phase in the evolution of the Leopardstown Campus. This PMC follows a series of stakeholder briefings held in January, bringing together representatives from across the racing industry, local community, business and public sectors to share information, gather insight and begin an open dialogue on the future evolution of the Leopardstown Campus. According to HRI, the engagement phase of the Leopardstown Campus Masterplan revealed a "growing...

Horse Racing Ireland CEO Suzanne Eade has pointed to Irish racing being "in good health" after statistics released for 2025 showed increases in racecourse attendances, on-course betting and sponsorship. There has also been an upturn in prize-money, field sizes and owner retention. The biggest growth of all the metrics measured came in the combined value of €225.4m for bloodstock sales at public auction, which was up by 14%. Across 390 fixtures last year, attendances rose by 6% to an overall figure of 1.316m. The overall Tote turnover amounted to €81.3m,...

The annual Treo Eile Christmas Show was held at the Emerald Equestrian Centre near Enfield on Thursday, with Team Randox, captained by multiple champion jockey Paul Townend, lifting the Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) perpetual trophy as the winners of this year's Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic Cup. The feature class on the night, the HRI Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic is designed to showcase the very best of Ireland's retrained racehorses. Teams of four took part in a timed competition, followed by a jump-off to decide the winners. The tense conclusion saw...

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has received approval from the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, to proceed with the development of a second all-weather track in Ireland at Tipperary Racecourse. The approval of the final business case is the last permission required under the Government's Infrastructure Guidelines. It will allow HRI to complete the procurement process with a main contractor and the specialist sub-contractors providing the lighting and surface for the new track. It is expected that contracts will be signed in early-December, at which point...

Mark Clayton has been named the new CEO of Leopardstown Racecourse, Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) announced on Thursday. Clayton will take up his role in early January and will report to HRI Racecourses CEO Paul Dermody. Previously, he spent 12 years at Southwell Racecourse and held prior leadership roles at Doncaster and Huntingdon Racecourses. Dermody said, "I am delighted to welcome Mark to the role of CEO at Leopardstown Racecourse. Mark brings a wealth of commercial experience and expertise to the role, combined with a thorough knowledge of the racing...

Racing will take place in Ireland on Good Friday for the first time in 2026, with the Curragh set to stage a fixture on April 3. Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) published the new fixture list on Friday with the number of meetings staying the same for the third consecutive year. The Flat season will also see an enhanced programme of Sunday fixtures beginning in May, while there will be seven blank Sundays in total - one more than in 2025. Racing on Good Friday will come from the current allocation...

Thurles Racecourse, which had been due to close this month after owners the Molony family decided to retire from racing, will continue operating until at least March of 2026. There was a productive meeting between the Molony family and Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) on Thursday. The only privately owned racecourse in Ireland, Thurles had 11 scheduled fixtures for the 2025/2026 season. A joint-statement from HRI and the Molony family read, "Following a positive meeting this afternoon between Horse Racing Ireland and the Molony family, Thurles Race Company will facilitate the...