Irish Champions Weekends
Prize-money boost and “free entry scheme” for Longines Irish Champions Weekend
Building on the success of last year, total prize-money for the 2015 Longines Irish Champions Weekend has been increased to €4.03 million. The Group 1 QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday, September 12th remains one of the highest-rated races on the international calendar and will be worth €1.1 million in 2015, an increase of €100,000 on last year. The total prize money on offer at Leopardstown on the opening day of Longines Irish Champions Weekend will be €2.13 million.
Three races at the Curragh on Sunday, September 13th have also been raised in value. The Derrinstown Stud Flying Five will be run as a Group 2 race for the first time and its prize fund has been doubled from €100,000 to €200,000. The value of the Group 1 Palmerstown House Estate Irish St. Leger has increased from €300,000 to €350,000 and the Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sale Stakes also rises by €50,000 to €250,000. The total prize-money at the Curragh has risen by €200,000 to €1.9 million.
Four valuable premier handicaps will be run over the course of Longines Irish Champions Weekend. It is certainly a weekend of high-class racing action which will cater for all. Each of the handicap races boasts a value of €150,000 and will be run over six, seven, ten and twelve furlongs respectively.
Longines Irish Champions Weekend is, in effect, the first leg of a European Triple Crown of championship meetings, leading into the QATAR Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe meeting at Longchamp in early October and QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot two weeks later.
What’s more, a series of races have been included in the ‘Longines Irish Champions Weekend Free Entry Scheme’ where the winning horses will be entitled to a refund equivalent to the total cost of running for a horse which had been entered at the initial entry stage, should they run in designated races on Longines Irish Champions Weekend.
Valuable and prestigious races in their own right, the additional bonus of free entry for Longines Irish Champions Weekend makes them all the more enticing:
RACE DATE QUALIFIER RACE FREE ENTRY FOR
6th August Ballyroan Stakes (Gp 3) 3yo+ 12f - Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger (Gp 1)
7th August El Gran Senor (L) 2yo 71/2f - John Deere Juvenile Turf Stakes (Gp 3)
7th August Abergwaun Stakes (L) 3yo+ 5f - Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes (Gp 2)
12th August Hurry Harriet Stakes (L) 3yo+ 91/2f - Moyglare “Jewels” Blandford Stakes (Gp 2)
13th August Desmond Stakes (Gp 3) 3yo+ 8f - Clipper Logistics Boomerang Stakes (Gp 2)
22nd August Renaissance Stakes (Gp3) 3yo+ 6f - Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes (Gp 2)
23rd August Debutante Stakes (Gp 2) 2yo 7f - Moyglare Stud Stakes (Gp 1)
23rd August Futurity Stakes (Gp 2) 2yo 7f - Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes (Gp 1)
23rd August Royal Whip Stakes (Gp 3) 3yo+ 10f - QIPCO Irish Champions Stakes (Gp 1)
23rd August Irish St Leger Trial Stakes (Gp 3) 3yo+ 14f - Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger (Gp 1)
27th August Fairy Bridge Stakes (Gp 3) 3yo+ 71/2f - Coolmore Matron Stakes (Gp 1)
30th August Dance Design Stakes (Gp 3) 3yo+ 9f - Moyglare “Jewels” Blandford Stakes (Gp 2)
Alternative funding ideas for trainers
With Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) recently publishing figures for the first half of 2014, the number of active owners in Irish racing is a serious concern and reflects the general trend across Europe.
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Is the handicapping system a handicap to our industry?
A sad indictment of racing is that many punters hold the belief that half the horses in a race are ‘not trying’, and we have to wonder, what gave them that impression?
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Do racetrack incentives lead the way to a drug-free future?
The horseracing industry is battling for its life, and the key point of contention is medication—not just a push for uniform medication rules, but a movement to eliminate all race-day drugs. Two years after the Breeders' Cup banned anti-bleeding medication for its juvenile races, Gulfstream Park in Florida has announced its intention to offer Lasix-free races for 2015, and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission is considering doing the same for its tracks. North America is the only region of the world that allows race-day medication.
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To water or not to water?
Everyone wants to see a good covering of grass on a racecourse but the watering of tracks is a highly contentious issue, even though it's essential for growth. With opinion split as to whether natural firm summer ground should prevail or artificial watering should be employed, the final word comes down to the Racecourse Manager, the Clerk of the Course and their highly skilled team of groundsmen.
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David Crosse - Let TV continue to promote the positive
One of the hardest things about being a jockey is the constant split second decisions that have to be made. It’s part of what makes the game what it is but I can pretty much guarantee that the overwhelming majority of my decisions and those of my colleagues are made with the intention of winning or at least finishing closer in every race.
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Northern Dancer - small in stature but a giant among thoroughbreds
Few horses were ever as animated and filled with a zest for life as the great racehorse and sire, Northern Dancer. Frank Mitchell looks at why this unfashionably bred thoroughbred went from being an unwanted yearling to one of the influential thoroughbreds of all time.
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THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN EUROPEAN TRAINER - ISSUE 46
Best in show - is the popularity of youngstock shows growing across Europe?
France have led the way in promoting one of their most successful breeds, the AQPS. With the National Hunt market becoming ever more competitive and commercial, isn't it time other countries also tried something new?
David Crosse - View from the saddle
For some across Europe it may be hard to believe, but we’re still in the midst of the Triple Crown season in England. Deep down I’d love to be two stone lighter for the summer so I could ride in some of these races. But I’m watching from the sidelines and getting drawn in by the marketing that is taking over our major flat races.
For some across Europe it may be hard to believe, but we’re still in the midst of the Triple Crown season in England. Deep down I’d love to be two stone lighter for the summer so I could ride in some of these races. But I’m watching from the sidelines and getting drawn in by the marketing that is taking over our major flat races. Every race seems to be part of a series nowadays but I don’t get it. The one thing I do get is our Triple Crown. It’s the greatest and toughest test exclusively for three-year-olds in European racing. The Guineas at one mile, the Derby at a mile and a half, and the St Leger at a mile and six furlongs – the last horse to win this triumvirate since World War II was Nijinsky in 1971, ridden by the great Lester Piggott and trained by Dr Vincent O’Brien.
Of the three races, the Epsom Derby is probably the ultimate test of the Classic generation due to the unique track. I've been lucky enough to ride over the course in a jump jockeys’ flat race a couple of times and it's only when you walk and ride the course that you appreciate what it takes for a horse to win it. To me, it’s definitely the ultimate test of a racehorse.
I'm not saying the Triple Crown is the be all and end all but in the same breath it cannot be made irrelevant. Racing must do all in its power to keep it as important as it is. For example, Sea the Stars could have won the Triple Crown in his Classic year but his trainer John Oxx decided not to run in the final leg as it was considered too long. Maybe it was felt that the lack of speed connected with winning a St Leger would affect the horse’s reputation as a sire?
Has the St Leger become an afterthought because it’s run in September? Over in America their Triple Crown is billed as the ultimate test of a racehorse. It is made up of three races over five weeks run in the same time span as between the 2000 Guineas and the Epsom Derby - the Kentucky Derby, run over a mile and a quarter, the Preakness Stakes, run over the shorter distance of a mile and a three-sixteenths, and the last leg, the Belmont Stakes, run over a mile and a half. There has been no Triple Crown winner since 1978. This year California Chrome won the first two legs of their Triple Crown. Before the Belmont, the horse was a national news story almost daily leading up to the race.
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THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN EUROPEAN TRAINER - ISSUE 46
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Author: David Crosse
Greek racing - on the up?
The first racecourse located in Athens was established by William Reese, an Englishman coming from Smyrna, Turkey, following the Asia Minor catastrophe. This was a time when Greek expatriates, forced into displacement, moved to Greece – specifically, to a large extent, to Athens.
Starting stalls - Under starters orders
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THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN - EUROPEAN TRAINER - ISSUE 42
