Horse power: Kilkenny’s role in €2.46bn racing industry

Goresbridge’s Champion National Hunt trainer Willie Mullins and Gareth Connolly of Connolly’s Red Mills have commended Kilkenny and Carlow for the two counties’ valuable contributions to Ireland’s thriving thoroughbred breeding and racing industry.

e praise comes following a recent report by Deloitte for Horse Racing Ireland that reveals remarkable growth in the sector, which generated €2.46bn in direct and stimulated expenditure in 2022—a 34% increase since 2016. e industry now sustains 30,350 jobs, with breeding, training, racing and related activities ourishing.

Ireland’s reputation as a breeding and racing hub is exempli ed by its secondplace position in global public bloodstock sales, achieving €538m in sales last year. Notably, racecourse attendance has also remained robust, with over half a million people attending the top festivals in 2022. e number of owners and horses in training has shown resilience, with 4,757 active owner accounts representing 13,592 individuals and 10,208 registered horses in 2022, highlighting the industry’s enduring appeal.

Commenting on the economic impact of breeding and racing in Carlow, Willie, said: “I train in County Carlow and there are 13 trainers in Carlow but there are nearly 140 breeders, and they all create employment. Personally, we employ somewhere between 70 and 90 people at any given time as do bigger trainers like Jim Bolger up the road and then you have the smaller trainers – there is huge employment in the racing industry in a small county like Carlow. All those people have to live locally, all their wages are spent locally. Everything from the man who shoes the horses and the Carlowbased transport company – the amount of people who are attached to the industry because of the horse industry is spread far and wide in a small county.”

Suzanne Eade, CEO of HRI, commented: “Behind the signi cant economic impact and our global reputation is a hugely skilled workforce, dedicated to the horses in their care. Our industry supports in excess of 30,000 FTEs, 9,400 of those in the core industry, making their living as a direct or indirect result from the racing and breeding industry.

“Racing has a huge impact on the rural economy, none more so than Kilkenny and Carlow. Two counties with a rich racing and breeding tradition – there are 551 breeders and 49 trainers across the two counties, all employing local sta and using local suppliers. Kilkenny is home to Gowran Park Racecourse which attracts nearly 44,000 racegoers every year, providing an important social and sporting outlet to their patrons.

“We are acutely aware that racing and breeding is a very competitive and mobile industry. We will continue to work with Government and all stakeholders to maintain our competitive advantage and Ireland’s reputation as global leaders at breeding and training racehorses.”

Gareth Connolly, CEO of Connolly’s Red Mills, the global horse nutrition manufacturers, said: “ ere are nearly 400 people tied into what we do in Goresbridge, that’s 400 families that are directly employed by Red Mills in the locality and the impact of that with other racing related businesses, that are also tied into the thoroughbred industry, has such a huge reach. From an Irish point of view if the thoroughbred breeding and racing industry is thriving, we see the impact across a huge number of sectors for us.”