Another bumper racing year
Attendances reached 1.45m, surpassing the previous record of 1.43m set in 2005. The festival meetings, particularly at Punchestown and Galway, continued to grow while the Curragh recorded a record-breaking Derby weekend and drew 10,000 racegoers to the inaugural Shelbourne Hotel Goffs Million meeting.
Regional tracks such as Ballinrobe, Bellewstown, Killarney and Wexford enjoyed buoyant demand, contributing to the growth of 17,000 in attendances over the 2005 figures. The total number of fixtures (including Northern Ireland) was 319 compared to 313 last year.
Total on-course betting saw dramatic growth, up 10.6% to €261.9m. Bookmaker betting on-course rose from €176.1m to €197.3m, up 12%, the Tote grew by 0.6% to €49.6 million and on-course SP shops grew by 33% to reach €15m.
Prize-money grew by 5% to reach €55m, up from €52.3m, and race sponsorship continued the positive growth pattern of recent years increasing by 2.5% to €8.1m. The total value of bloodstock sales at public auction grew by 30% to €189.4m.
Irish-trained horses managed to surpass the 2005 total of nine Cheltenham victories with a historic ten, including the Gold Cup, the Champion Hurdle and the Champion Chase and went on to add the Aintree Grand National to the tally. On the Flat, Irish-trained horses kept nine of the 12 domestic Group One races at home. Two English Classics fell to Aidan O Brien — George Washington taking the English 2000 Guineas in scintillating style and Alexandrova completing the English and Irish Oaks double — part of the overall Irish tally of seven English Group One races. Four Group ones in France, including the Prix Marcel Boussac and the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc day, cemented racing’s reputation as Ireland’s most consistently successful international sport.
HRI Chief Executive Brian Kavanagh said: ‘The record attendance figure is particularly welcome as we knew, heading into 2006, that we would have to contend with the World Cup and the Ryder Cup. The elements conspired to blow us off course with three particularly bad periods: a very wet spring which saw 15 meetings cancelled, September’s storm which reversed the recent growth of Listowel’s ever-popular festival and of course Christmas, which gave Leopardstown, Limerick, Tramore and Punchestown some difficult days. The numbers achieved show the strong appeal of the sport across all regions. The main festivals continue to go from strength to strength, with Punchestown, in particular, achieving a record 85,000 racegoers, up 10%.
Looking forward to 2007, Kavanagh added: “We will see significant development of course facilities, particularly with the flagship projects at the Curragh and Galway now underway. Dundalk will re-open in August, giving us Ireland’s first all-weather floodlit track. It will stage 12 meetings in 2006 rising to 25 in subsequent years. The security of funding which has been ensured for Irish racing through the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act has given HRI the basis for long-term planning, and the ability to deliver facilities which will add greatly to the sporting and social infrastructure of the country. In 2007 we will reach a new record level of prize-money with the total expected to rise from €55.1m this year to €58.6m.
“Enhanced prize-money has been the foundation for the unprecedented success of Irish trained horses. The minimum value of a race in Ireland is now €8,500 which helps ensure that the best horses stay in training in Ireland providing employment and preserving skills throughout the regions.”
