WEIGHED IN FOR A LOT LESS
RACING’S return reflects the harsh new economy of sport as trainers will be targeting highprofile races with significantly reduced prize money, including the Irish Derby at the Curragh on June 27.
From a booty of €1.5m in 2019, Ireland’s premier Flat race is now worth €750,000, a hit of 50%.
The value of the Irish Champion Stakes has been slashed by 40% from €1.25m to €750,000, while the Irish 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas, which spearhead the Curragh card on June 12-13, will be worth €250,000 – down from €400,000 last year.
The markdown in value is reflected across the board for all Group One races.
‘Regrettably, due to the financial circumstances of the industry, prize money cuts are inevitable,’ said Horse Racing Ireland chief Brian Kavanagh.
The cuts for more modest races of value between €10,000 and €50,000 vary from 10% to 20%.
‘We have adopted a tiered approach, endeavouring to protect the grassroots of the industry as much as possible,’ added Kavanagh, who warned that further downward adjustments to prize money will be required through the rest of the year.
The HRI has approved 28 meetings between June 8 and June 29 after receiving the goahead from the Government to resume behind closed doors.
Naas will host the first meeting on Monday, June 8, with National Hunt racing to restart at Limerick on June 22.
The Curragh will be busy with five days of racing, including the
Guineas meeting. The HRI have also confirmed that the Irish Oaks will be run on July 18 and the Irish Champions Weekend on September 12/13.
The HRI are using just nine racecourses in June, selecting those based on a combination of location and stabling capacity.
Under the protocols, there will be one stable per horse and, where possible, eight race cards will be staged.
Safety limits will be decided on a racecourse by racecourse basis to accommodate each track’s social distancing requirements, with a general maximum limit of 18 runners per race initially. Cork racecourse will not be among those used in June as it will continue as a test centre for Covid-19.
There will be no apprentice or claiming races in the first two weeks and as saunas are not permitted to open under the Covid-19 protocols, the 2lb increase in weights introduced in March will be applied to all races.
There will also be prior health screening of all those in attendance at each meeting and 48-hour declarations will be introduced for all races in June. ‘We will have missed 11 weeks’ racing which will take some time to catch up. We intend to do this over the course of the rest of the year rather than immediately,’ said Kavanagh.
International participation will be restricted to Group 1 and Group 2 races only for June.