NEWS
COURSE TO COURSE A look at stories in the news from racecourses across Europe.
Prize-money boost for 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 highestrated 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 12 furlongs respectively. Longines Irish Champions Weekend is,
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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.
This year marks the 20th running of the Denny Cordell Lavarack and Lanwades Fillies Stakes (Gp 3) at Gowran Park. Denny Cordell enjoyed a brilliant career in the music business. He produced “A Whiter Shade of Pale” and the great early records of stars such as Tom Petty & Joe Cocker and in his latter years signed and Developed Irish super-group The Cranberries. It is the intention of his family and friends that the sponsorship of this race will create an annual event at which Denny’s life and friendship will be celebrated with the same zest he himself brought to life.
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 7½f
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+ 9½f
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+ 7½f
Coolmore Matron Stakes (Gp 1)
30th August
Dance Design Stakes (Gp 3) 3yo+ 9f
Moyglare “Jewels” Blandford Stakes (Gp 2)
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Remembering Denny Cordell Lavarack
Longines irish Champions Weekend Free entry sCheme
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