ITM

The IRE Incentive will extend to Italy for the first time this year to reward Irish-bred winners of designated races in the country. The popular sales initiative, run by Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM), has been in operation since 2021 and has helped to stimulate Irish bloodstock and sales. Over 1,000 IRE Incentive races in Ireland and Great Britain have been run since with over €5 million in bonuses spent at Irish auctions.    Figures from Weatherbys show that Italy is the third biggest market for Ireland in Europe after Britain and...

Irish Thoroughbred Marketing boss Charles O'Neill has reported that the five new stallion sons of the late Wootton Bassett - Coolmore's Classic winners Henri Matisse and Camille Pisarro, Tally-Ho Stud's Maranoa Charlie, Rathbarry Stud newbie Unquestionable and Capital Stud's Topgear - are proving to be "a huge draw" for breeders and racing fans embarking on the two-day Stallion Trail, which kicks on Friday morning. Interest in the initiative, which began back in 2015, was also described by O'Neill to be "stronger than ever" with a number of foreign visitors expected...

Many of the best Irish-based stallions will be on display next year as over 30 stallion farms will open their doors for the 2026 Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM) Irish Stallion Trail on January 16 and 17. A free event, visitors can simple register for the studs they wish to visit at ITM's website. Due to high demand, those wishing to visit Coolmore Stud must register for a specific date and time slot. The popular Mark O'Hanlon Memorial Quiz will also be held to coincide with the ITM Irish Stallion Trail....

A shortfall of 20 horses has forced Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM) to abandon plans for the intended barrier trial fixture at Dundalk on Monday, July 7. ITM's international representative Jeremy Greene, who has been the driving force behind the concept, revealed that it would not be financially viable to stage the card if a minimum of 70 entries were not received. Only 50 horses had been entered for next Monday's fixture and leading trainers Jack Davison and Gavin Cromwell, both of whom have been big backers of the initiative since...

The Irish EBF Barrier Trials are soon to return with three dates approved from May to August, Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) announced on Wednesday. Naas will again host the first day on Monday, May 26 on the inside track over six and seven furlongs, with Dundalk staging the middle fixture on Monday, July 7. The final date is set for Leopardstown on Wednesday, August 27, again over six and seven furlongs. As in the past, each fixture will be restricted to named and unraced two-year-olds and three-year-olds with stalls certificates....

Due to the adverse weather conditions, the Coolmore farms will not be opening their doors as scheduled for this year's ITM Irish Stallion Trail on Friday, January 10 and Saturday, January 11. Gates at all Coolmore farms will instead be open from 10am to 3pm on Saturday, January 18. "Due to weather conditions, the @coolmorestud farms (Coolmore, Castlehyde, Grange & The Beeches) have rescheduled their ITM Irish Stallion Trail opening to Saturday 18 January 2025," read a statement from Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (@IREthoroughbred) on X. Coolmore ask that visitors, including...

Charles O'Neill, CEO of Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM), has issued an update on his progress ahead of his participation in the Pat Smullen Cancer Trials Ireland Charity Race at the Curragh on Saturday, August 31. O'Neill is one of 20 riders scheduled to take part in the race run in honour of Smullen, the nine-times champion jockey in Ireland who died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 43 in September 2020. The other riders in the race include Smullen's son Paddy, who started riding racehorses at Conor Hoban's pre-training...

Entries are closing at noon on Thursday, July 4 for the next session of Irish EBF Barrier Trials. Operated by Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM) and backed by the Irish EBF and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), Trials are open to unraced two-year-olds and three-year-olds, with the next session due to take place at Dundalk Stadium on Monday, July 8. The Trials at Dundalk are run over five, six and seven furlongs. Trials are principally staged to meet the strong demand from overseas for quality unraced thoroughbreds out of Ireland,...

Goffs have teamed up with Naas Racecourse and Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM) to introduce a new two-year-old breeze-up sale in Ireland for 2025. The breeze will take place at Naas on Tuesday, June 3, with the sale being staged at Goffs on Wednesday, June 4. A practice breeze will also be held on the Bank Holiday Monday, June 2. Announcing the new breeze-up sale, Goffs chief executive Henry Beeby, said, "We are thrilled that Naas Racecourse has agreed to host the trackwork to enable this exciting new breeze-up sale in...

There is an undertone of negativity surrounding horseracing these days, almost all of which is generated by its participants and followers, and greatly exacerbated by the increasingly unpleasant arena that is social media. Where once Twitter was fun and we all gained excellent insight into trainers' yards and, for some, their sense of humour, now X marks the spot at which we should perhaps consciously uncouple from twits and trolls. Let's get out more. And where better to start than by hitching a ride on the stallion trails? This Friday...

A portion of the world's best sires will be on show at the ITM Irish Stallion Trail, taking place on Friday January 12 and Saturday January 13, 2024. In what will be the tenth edition of the Trail, breeders, racing professionals, and racing fans will enjoy the opportunity to view many of the world's leading Flat and National Hunt stallions at a wide range of Ireland's breed-shaping stallion farms.  ITM CEO Charles O'Neill, commented, "Ireland's stallion roster gets stronger by the year and offers breeders the world over an array...

Involved since the organisation's founding in 1991, Goffs Chairman Eimear Mulhern will step down from the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Committee, it was announced Thursday. At Goffs Thursday, Mulhern was presented with a memento from HRI CEO Suzanne Eade, HRI Director of Bloodstock and Equine Welfare John Osborne, and ITM Chairman Dermot Cantillon. A joint statement read, "All at ITM and HRI offer Eimear their sincere thanks for her many years of dedicated service to the Irish industry."