My Dublin Racing Festival: Report Card
It’s back to school today after the long weekend in Ireland so here’s my report card for the Dublin Racing Festival.
The concept – A: Up with the best in class
It’s a powerful package. Two top class days of National Hunt racing in our fun capital city. I can see why 38% of attendees were from the UK, up from 27% the year before. It’s emerged as a great value alternative to Cheltenham. I’m not going to bash Cheltenham though – it’s almost three times as popular and it remains the great cathedral for National Hunt racing. However, DRF does show that a focus on quality can reap rewards.
The Experience – B: Ran out of time this time, optimistic it can be fixed next time around
A friend of mine left Naas at 12, they didn’t arrive to the track till almost 2pm, it wasn’t much better for me – that can’t be repeated. There was chaos on day one getting into the track. They have two complicated junctions to manage the flow but the experience for other busy days arriving into Leopardstown has never been as bad. I understand there was some issues on the M50 itself but there was no police presence on the first roundabout and it seems a simple fix for next year to increase the Garda presence. They also need to invest in making it easier to grab a pint and go to the bathroom – simple things but very important.
Irish Breds – Retake this exam, there’s hope if we try again
French-breds swept the floor, winning 7 of the 8 Grade 1s – it looks bleak but maybe there’s something exciting lurking behind the worrying headlines. Of those stallions that produced those French-bred Grade 1 winners at DRF – Feel Like Dancing, Jeu St Eloi and Jukebox Jury are all now standing in Ireland, not available to French breeders. Timos, the sire of Galopin Des Champs, was, I understand, intended to stand in Ireland before his unfortunate death. Poliglote has also passed away meaning that only two active French stallions had winners in 22 year old Doctor Dino and 20 year old Spanish Moon. Whisper it but maybe the tide may turn again back in favour of the Irish breeder in years to come.
The Competitiveness – C: Will get worse if results not addressed
I get a bit awkward when the Six One News comes on and the line is repeated yet again “Another day of Mullins dominance at Leopardstown” and wonder how could the passive fan be drawn in from this news report? You’ve got to look at yourself in the mirror though. We send plenty of horses to Willie and I view Willie as one of the best trainers in the world. I’m not going to stop sending him horses and I don’t think you’re going to stop taking shares in them. My friend Kevin Blake made some interesting suggestions yesterday to increase competitivness however and I’ll add a couple more:
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Median Sires Races – This is not a DRF problem but we have a duopoly currently at the top of the Irish National Hunt stallions in Walk in the Park and Blue Bresil. The Flat has experienced this problem before and we have increased investment in Median Sire Races to level the playing field. This should be followed for our National Hunt program which in turn will help smaller trainers that don’t have the same cheque books.
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Travel Allowances – It was a brilliant to have a UK-trained winner and well done to Sophie Leech and Adrian Keatley for getting stuck in with runners. Irish Champions Weekend has significant travel incentives to encourage runners from abroad, I don’t know if Leopardstown currently offer the same for DRF but perhaps they should be considered? That said, Willie and Gordon don’t get them to go to Cheltenham so why should we? I’m of the view let’s do the right thing first and maybe that is the road we should go down.
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A Dream To Share shouldn’t have been allowed run in the Grade 2 Bumper – In the UK this year they’ve changed the rules to restrict the number of times you can run in a bumper but for my money they have overcomplicated it. I think it’s simple – if you win any bumper you lose your right to run in a bumper the following year just like losing your novice status. These are jump horses, let’s see them jump please.
The Owner Experience – B: Small changes to preparations can see it match the A+ students
It’s always a privilege to have a runner at these leading festivals and we’re well ahead of the UK in accommodating our syndicate owners in Ireland. However, we should always push to get better so some small suggestions for next year.
The best value tickets should be provided to owners, that’s a given. However, there was a quirk this year where you could get cheaper tickets through the Irish Through Breeders Association (of which I’m a proud member) rather than an owner looking to buy extra tickets direct from Leopardstown. There was also no flexibility on extra tickets. Syndicates don’t want fancy meals, they want a simple admission ticket so their contribution to the industry is recognised and valued. Punchestown, Naas and many other tracks are more generous with their allocations and it should be looked at.
An innovation for which Leopardstown should be commended is having a dedicated bar for syndicate owners (this should be standard at our leading racecourses). However, may I request a small change in the decor? They also have a picture of a Supreme Racing winner in their syndicate bar. With the damage that outfit did to syndicates in Ireland, the picture should have been removed many years ago.
Our Performance – C+ Goal to do better next year but bright sparks there
I think with the number of horses we have in training just having a runner at the Dublin Racing Festival is an achievement to be proud of so I was delighted to have Sharp Object taking part in the Mares Bumper, a race we have won before at the Dublin Racing Festival. However, we still haven’t managed a runner in the Paddy Mullins Handicap and that’s a race every year I think of as a target for our National Hunt mares – hopefully next year will be the year. We did back one winner in that we bought the only Jeu St Eloi filly at any store sale last year and she is going to Willie Mullins. Jeu St Eloi had his first Grade 1 winner at the weekend trained by Willie. There’s no surprise then that our shrewd owners have jumped in since and she’s heading towards being sold out. She’s an exciting filly to go to war with this year and maybe, just maybe, one for DRF next year when the report card is a glistening A+ all round.
Observations – Caldwell Dispersal
What a sale.
Dermot and I travelled to Fairyhouse to watch the sale and it exceeded both our expectations. €5,290,000 across 29 horses for an average €182,414. The team at Tattersalls did an exceptional job and given the sale was out on with only 10 days notice it was impressive to see the level of detail they had managed to put together – they even had dispersal-branded jackets.
I also think Gordon Elliot’s team should be commended. These were horses that out of nowhere were put up for auction. They are at the peak of their season heading into Cheltenham, and they looked incredible. It’s no wonder Gordon Elliot’s staff won 171 best turned out awards in 2023 – a full 50 awards ahead of their nearest competitor in the Irish Thoroughbred Welfare Council – Best Turned Out League.