Longines announced as sponsor of Irish Champions Weekend

Swiss watchmaker Longines will be title sponsor of the showpiece Irish Champions Weekend racing festival at Leopardstown and the Curragh next September.

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and Longines announced details of the new partnership yesterday. The watchmaker will be the two-day meeting's title sponsor and official timekeeper, installing clocks and chronometers at the courses.

Irish Champions Weekend hosts 10 top-flight races, including five prestigious group one contests, over two days at the two racecourses.

It is sold as the first leg of three European flat-racing deciders, whose other meetings are the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris and British Champions Day at Ascot.

Longines already has a strong relationship with horse racing and sponsors the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, which identify and rate the best thoroughbreds every year.