2010 Fixture List Announced

Total Number of Fixtures Reduced by 7

The 2010 Fixture List has been released today (Tuesday 28th July 2009) by Horse Racing Ireland. The key points in relation to the 2010 Fixture List are as follows:-

· The total number of fixtures has been reduced by 7 from 352 to 345

· The Flat season will start at Dundalk on Friday 26th February and end on Friday 10th December

· The Punchestown Festival will be run from 20th – 24th April, a week earlier than this year

· There will be a blank weekend before the Galway Festival

1. Total Number of Fixtures

Given the falling horse population (down 4% at half year point) and the reduced levels of runners and eliminations (down 8% and 6% respectively for January-June 2009), for the first time in many years a reduction in the total number of fixtures has been approved by the HRI Board.

2. Start/End of the Seasons

Flat – The Flat season will start at Dundalk on Friday evening 26th February, although the races on this mixed card will be aimed at national hunt and dual purpose horses (including three bumpers). There will then be a two week gap before the first all flat card on Friday evening 12th March. The flat season has been extended by two weeks through the movement of two of Dundalk’s three November Wednesday evenings into Fridays in December. The flat season will therefore conclude on Friday evening 10th December.

National Hunt – The Punchestown Festival will have a relatively early date (20th-24th April) in 2010 at the request of the racecourse, with the result that next year the National Hunt season will end on Satu day 24th April, the same date as in Britain.

3. Saturday Evenings

The total number of Saturday evenings has been left at nine, with the one change of date being that the Curragh will now race on the Saturday evening of their two-day Oaks meeting in mid-July. The Curragh’s Saturday evening meeting in June has consequently been moved to a Friday evening. The schedule of Saturday evenings for 2010 is shown below:

Date

Racecourse

May 1st

Kilbeggan

May 15th

Kilbeggan

June 12th

Limerick

July 3rd

Bellewstown

July 17th

Curragh

August 7th

Kilbeggan

August 14th

Tramore

August 28th

Galway

November 6th

Dundalk

4. Mixed Meetings

The number of Mixed meetings has been reduced from 76 to 44. There are significant benefits of single code meetings from a cost perspective. The overall change in meeting codes is shown below.

Year - 2009

Flat - 103

Mixed - 76

National Hunt - 173

Total - 352

Year - 2010

Flat - 114

Mixed - 44

National Hunt - 187

Total - 345

Difference

11

- 32

14

- 7

In terms of the distribution of opportunities between the two codes, 2010 will see the same overall balance of Flat/National Hunt races (40%:60%).

5. Gaps during the Summer Months

There remains 12 blank days during the summer months as per 2009, but this will include an extra blank day in July, with no racing being programmed for the weekend before Galway (24th – 25th July). There will be a four-day break for jump racing at the conclusion of the National Hunt season in April, while the summer break in the National Hunt season has been extended by one day (from 10 to 11 days) to run from Tuesday 22nd June to Friday 2nd July (inclusive). This has been achieved as a result of Bellewstown moving their Summer Festival a day later so that it will now run over Friday evening, Saturday evening and, in a first for Bellewstown, Sunday afternoon during the first week in July.

6. Galway Fixture on September 1st 2009 moved to Roscommon on September 8th 2009

Galway requested to forego the fourth day of their late August/early September meeting in 2009 (their fixture on Tuesday evening 1st September 2009) given that it is a new date for this year which will be removed for 2010. Galway wishes to promote their newly located late summer festival as a three-day meeting from the outset so as to offer a consistent fixture going forward. HRI has agreed to this request and has switched the meeting to Roscommon on Tuesday evening 8th September 2009, to form a two-day meeting as they already race on 7th September.

Commenting on the 2010 Fixture List, Jason Morris, HRI Director of Racing, said: “HRI has progressively grown the fixture list over recent years to accommodate the requirements of the expanding horse population. Now that we are seeing a gradual decline in the number of horses in training and runners, HRI has reacted accordingly by reducing the overall fixture list, with seven fewer meetings to be held in 2010. We have continued to place an emphasis on staging quality racing at times and venues that will best suit the racegoing public.”

The dates of the major racing festivals for 2010 will be:

Cork Easter Festival

3rd – 5th April

Fairyhouse Easter Festival

4th – 6th April

Punchestown NH Festival

20th – 24th April

Killarney Spring Festival

9th – 11th May

Listowel Whit Weekend

5th – 7th June

Curragh Derby Festival

25th – 27th June

Bellewstown

2nd – 4th July

Killarney July Festival

12th – 15th July

Galway

26th July – 1st August

Tramore

12th – 15th August

Killarney August Festival

17th – 20th August

Galway

28th – 30th August

Listowel

12th – 18th September

Down Royal Festival

5th – 6th November

Fairyhouse Winter Festival

27th – 28th November

Leopardstown

26th – 29th December

Limerick

26th – 29th December