Those at the helm in both Leopardstown and the Curragh have rejected suggestions that the Irish Champions Festival’s public appeal has stagnated and insisted criticism about a lack of promotion for Irish flat racing’s biggest event this weekend is off the mark.
With this season’s star name City Of Troy skipping Saturday’s €1.25 million Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes, the 11th renewal of what used be called Irish Champions Weekend has struggled for a headline act.
It comes on the back of last year’s event – the first under its ‘festival’ title – which generated an overall attendance between the two tracks of over 18,600. That was up almost 10 per cent on 2022, although Leopardstown’s 10,019 tally was slightly down.
However, before the Covid pandemic ruled out crowds, an official attendance of over 23,500 attended the 2019 fixture. In 2016, 23,805 attended, while 2014′s first edition of the double-meeting designed to increase Irish flat racing’s profile attracted overall figures of 24,168.
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Such figures for the cream of Irish and international flat racing at two tracks within easy commuting distance of Dublin pale in comparison to other meetings, including Punchestown’s National Hunt festival and even Leopardstown’s Christmas action.
There has been some criticism about promotion levels for this weekend that sees half a dozen Group One races in total, including the Curragh’s featured €600,000 Comer Group International Irish St Leger.
The Curragh’s chief executive Brian Kavanagh dismissed that on Sunday and said HQ’s marketing department was particularly focused on local areas in Co Kildare and encouraging family participation.
His Leopardstown contemporary Tim Husbands also said he doesn’t believe the Champions Festival has found its level in terms of public interest.
“I think it’s a challenge for not only Irish Champions racing but flat racing to grow its audience and engagement. But I would hope that we haven’t reached a peak and that we would go on and build with it.
“I think a lot of that has to do with more engagement with the industry. We need to find personalities within the industry that enables racegoers to identify with, and obviously find the star horses. We will continue to do that as a partnership together,” Husbands commented.
City Of Troy’s Breeders’ Cup Classic ambitions mean that several days after the festival he will be in a strenuous private workout with stable companions at Southwell, an incongruous sight for some considering the prize money on offer on his doorstep.
However, Husbands said the Champion Stakes remains an enticing prospect, with last year’s winner Auguste Rodin back to defend his title. Favourite for the race, though, is exciting English colt Economics, while Shin Emperor will be just the second Japanese horse ever to line up.
There will be four Group One prizes up for grabs at the Curragh on Sunday, with the 2022 winner Kyprios back to try and regain the crown.
The Curragh’s 8,646 attendance a year ago was up 28 per cent on 2022. Kavanagh, formerly chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland, and a prime mover behind the track’s €81 million development, said the pandemic had interrupted the festival’s momentum but that its public appeal hasn’t levelled off.
“Has it found its level? No, we can always make improvements,” he said.
“It is the defining weekend of the Irish flat season, that’s been proven time and time again in terms of results of the races and the quality of the horses.
“With my own Curragh hat on, you had Fallen Angel winning the Moyglare last year and going on to win the Guineas. Going back over the years, it’s the exact same for Leopardstown with the Champion and Matron Stakes. It defines the champions for the season in a lot of cases.
“So, I think from a racing point of view I wouldn’t rest on our laurels. We always need to look at the programme and how it can be tweaked or changed to try and make it better.
“Personally, I’d like to see a Group One mile race at some stage in Ireland. There’s nowhere for horses to go after the Guineas and it means three-year-olds have to go internationally, or take on older horses. So maybe there’s scope for something like that,” he added.
On Sunday, Shin Emperor came through a public workout at Longchamp to book his ticket for Leopardstown.
The full brother to the 2020 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass, third in May’s Japanese Derby, is based in Chantilly as he prepares to take on some of Europe’s best this autumn.
“His full-brother Sottsass, he went to the Irish Champion Stakes, too [fourth] – so we try to copy that, I guess. We thought that race is really good for us, so after galloping today, conditions should be good to go there, fitness-wise,” said a spokesman
“Of course, we want to go to the Arc after that, so we have to manage his condition, but we will try our best for the Irish Champion Stakes, too. We really respect the Irish Champion Stakes, we don’t want to miss any race and we will try our best.”
