2010 Fixture List Out 2010 Fixture List Announced Total Number of Fixtures Reduced by 7 The 2010 Fixture List has been released today (Tuesday 28th July 2009) by Horse Racing Ireland. The key points in relation to the 2010 Fixture List are as follows:- · The total number of fixtures has been reduced by 7 from 352 to 345 · The Flat season will start at Dundalk on Friday 26th February and end on Friday 10th December · The Punchestown Festival will be run from 20th – 24th April, a week earlier than this year · There will be a blank weekend before the Galway Festival 1. Total Number of Fixtures Given the falling horse population (down 4% at half year point) and the reduced levels of runners and eliminations (down 8% and 6% respectively for January-June 2009), for the first time in many years a reduction in the total number of fixtures has been approved by the HRI Board. 2. Start/End of the Seasons Flat – The Flat season will start at Dundalk on Friday evening 26th February, although the races on this mixed card will be aimed at national hunt and dual purpose horses (including three bumpers). There will then be a two week gap before the first all flat card on Friday evening 12th March. The flat season has been extended by two weeks through the movement of two of Dundalk’s three November Wednesday evenings into Fridays in December. The flat season will therefore conclude on Friday evening 10th December. National Hunt – The Punchestown Festival will have a relatively early date (20th-24th April) in 2010 at the request of the racecourse, with the result that next year the National Hunt season will end on Saturday 24th April, the same date as in Britain. 3. Saturday Evenings The total number of Saturday evenings has been left at nine, with the one change of date being that the Curragh will now race on the Saturday evening of their two-day Oaks meeting in mid-July. The Curragh’s Saturday evening meeting in June has consequently been moved to a Friday evening. The schedule of Saturday evenings for 2010 is shown below: Date Racecourse May 1st Kilbeggan May 15th Kilbeggan June 12th Limerick July 3rd Bellewstown July 17th Curragh August 7th Kilbeggan August 14th Tramore August 28th Galway November 6th Dundalk 4. Mixed Meetings The number of Mixed meetings has been reduced from 76 to 44. There are significant benefits of single code meetings from a cost perspective. The overall change in meeting codes is shown below. Year - 2009 Flat - 103 Mixed - 76 National Hunt - 173 Total - 352 Year - 2010 Flat - 114 Mixed - 44 National Hunt - 187 Total - 345 Difference 11 - 32 14 - 7 In terms of the distribution of opportunities between the two codes, 2010 will see the same overall balance of Flat/National Hunt races (40%:60%). 5. Gaps during the Summer Months There remains 12 blank days during the summer months as per 2009, but this will include an extra blank day in July, with no racing being programmed for the weekend before Galway (24th – 25th July). There will be a four-day break for jump racing at the conclusion of the National Hunt season in April, while the summer break in the National Hunt season has been extended by one day (from 10 to 11 days) to run from Tuesday 22nd June to Friday 2nd July (inclusive). This has been achieved as a result of Bellewstown moving their Summer Festival a day later so that it will now run over Friday evening, Saturday evening and, in a first for Bellewstown, Sunday afternoon during the first week in July. 6. Galway Fixture on September 1st 2009 moved to Roscommon on September 8th 2009 Galway requested to forego the fourth day of their late August/early September meeting in 2009 (their fixture on Tuesday evening 1st September 2009) given that it is a new date for this year which will be removed for 2010. Galway wishes to promote their newly located late summer festival as a three-day meeting from the outset so as to offer a consistent fixture going forward. HRI has agreed to this request and has switched the meeting to Roscommon on Tuesday evening 8th September 2009, to form a two-day meeting as they already race on 7th September. Commenting on the 2010 Fixture List, Jason Morris, HRI Director of Racing, said: “HRI has progressively grown the fixture list over recent years to accommodate the requirements of the expanding horse population. Now that we are seeing a gradual decline in the number of horses in training and runners, HRI has reacted accordingly by reducing the overall fixture list, with seven fewer meetings to be held in 2010. We have continued to place an emphasis on staging quality racing at times and venues that will best suit the racegoing public.” The dates of the major racing festivals for 2010 will be: Cork Easter Festival 3rd – 5th April Fairyhouse Easter Festival 4th – 6th April Punchestown NH Festival 20th – 24th April Killarney Spring Festival 9th – 11th May Listowel Whit Weekend 5th – 7th June Curragh Derby Festival 25th – 27th June Bellewstown 2nd – 4th July Killarney July Festival 12th – 15th July Galway 26th July – 1st August Tramore 12th – 15th August Killarney August Festival 17th – 20th August Galway 28th – 30th August Listowel 12th – 18th September Down Royal Festival 5th – 6th November Fairyhouse Winter Festival 27th – 28th November Leopardstown 26th – 29th December Limerick 26th – 29th December
