Irish racing

Joe Foley of Ballyhane Stud has been named the new Chairman of the Irish European Breeders' Fund at the organisation's annual general meeting, while Tom Gaffney of Castlehyde Stud is the new Deputy Chairman. On the Board of the Irish EBF since 2002 as a governor, Foley was appointed to the Deputy Chairman role in 2017. He replaces outgoing Chairman John O'Connor of Ballylinch Stud. Gaffney has served on the Irish EBF for 21 years representing Coolmore Stud and also has a wealth of experience from his role as Chairman...

Entries are now open for the next session of Irish EBF Barrier Trials at Dundalk Stadium Aug. 18. Operated by Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM) and backed by Irish EBF and the IHRB, the trials are open to unraced 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds. Recent notable Trial graduates include G3 Gordon S. winner Ottoman Emperor (Ire) and listed Yeomanstown Stud Irish EBF S. winner Wren's Breath (Ire). Trials, contested over five to seven furlongs, are recorded, timed, and made available to view online shortly after running on the ITM website and social media....

The first hearing of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board in front of a Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine began in Ireland on Thursday, with the IHRB defending itself rigorously. The IHRB has come under pressure recently regarding concerns over doping in Irish racing following Irish trainer Jim Bolger's claims in a newspaper interview that there would be a "Lance Armstrong" moment in the Irish industry. Irish Government committee members asked questions of Horse Racing Ireland's Chief Executive Brian Kavanagh, IHRB Chief Executive Denis Egan and IHRB Chief...

Irish racing will continue behind closed doors despite coronavirus restrictions being maintained, the Irish Government announced on Wednesday. Only professional, elite sports, horse racing, greyhound racing and approved equestrian events are permitted to continue in this fashion, with no other matches or events allowed at this time. Racing in Ireland resumed on June 8, but owners have only been allowed briefly in September. The ban on UK travel continues until midnight on Friday, Jan. 8, and beginning on Jan. 9, all passengers coming from the UK will be required to...

Trainers Aidan and Donnacha O'Brien have been fined €2,500 each and prohibited from attending race meetings in Ireland for two weeks for failing to enter The Curragh through the health screening area at a meeting last month. The pair were found to have breached coronavirus health screening protocols at the County Kildare course on June 12, which was G1 Irish 2000 Guineas day during the week racing resumed in Ireland. The matter was heard by the referrals panel of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board on Monday. A tweet from the...

The Irish Flat season has been extended an extra week and will end at Naas on Nov. 7, as an updated Irish fixture list was released by Horse Racing Ireland on Thursday. The revised schedule covers August through December and sees an additional 39 race meetings added in the final five months of the year restoring 48 of the 87 fixtures that were lost between the end of March and Irish racing's June 8th resumption. HRI's Director of Racing Jason Morris said, "We have worked closely with all racecourses to...

Rewards4Racing, the industry's rewards programme, will be offering its services and expertise to all UK and Irish racecourses, the organisation announced on Wednesday. In 2019, 960,000 tickets were purchased by the reward programme's members, and data has show that they attend race meetings more frequently and spend more when they come racing. One of the tracks that has accepted the offer is Plumpton Racecourse. Racing begins again in the UK on June 1, while Irish racing kicks off on June 8 after extended coronavirus-induced breaks. "During these unprecedented times, there...

A series of new one-hour evening programmes on Irish racing on consecutive Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in June and early July on RTE television have been confirmed by Horse Racing Ireland and RTE on Tuesday. These new programmes, to be broadcasted on RTE2 and RTE Player with 10 extra meetings confirmed up to mid-July, will be held from 7-8 p.m. on Fridays and from 5-6 p.m. on Saturdays/Sundays. Hugh Cahill will be the main presenter, with guest analysts joining regulars Jane Mangan, Ted Walsh and Ruby Walsh. All of RTE...

Ireland's lockdown, originally set to expire on Sunday, has been extended three weeks to May 5, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced on Friday. The nation went into lockdown on Mar. 24, the day after Naas's opening meeting of the flat season, including the cancellation of all sporting events. Racing, therefore, is on the shelf in Ireland for another three weeks minimum. Earlier this week, Emma Berry spoke with Horse Racing Ireland Chief Executive Officer and European Pattern Committee Chairman Brian Kavanagh about plans for the European pattern calendar. Click here to...

All sporting events in Ireland have been suspended following an announcement from the Irish Government. Racing has been continuing to stage meetings behind closed doors since Mar. 13, as countries around the world try to limit the spread of the coronavirus. However, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced on Tuesday that all sporting events, even those without spectators, would be cancelled. Racing in Britain was suspended from last Wednesday, with no action anticipated before May 1 at the earliest. Racing had been due to take place at Dundalk on Wednesday. The Board...

The 2019 Irish horse racing and breeding industry statistics were released by Horse Racing Ireland on Monday. During the past year, the number of horses returned in training in Ireland rose 3% to 8,949, with new owner registrations up by 6.8% to 851 new racehorse owners. These were split into 600 new sole owners and partners and 216 new syndicates. Commercial race sponsorship and contributions to prizemoney by racecourses continued to rise also, growing by 17.3% in 2019. There were over 1.3 million people who attended a racemeeting in 2019...