Navan © Photo Healy Racing
Navan Racecourse has announced a new race-day partnership with the Irish European Breeders Fund, to sponsor all seven National Hunt races on Sunday, December 15 under the banner of Irish Stallion Farms.
The total prizemoney on offer for the day will be €145,000 at the newly titled Irish Stallion Farms Christmas Raceday at Navan Racecourse.
The seven-race card was designed in conjunction with Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) with the mid-division rated-horse in mind with boosted prize money.
There will be three handicap hurdles, three handicap chases each worth €20,000 and the feature race will be the Listed winners' bumper worth €25,000. The rating bands for the handicap hurdles will range from 80 to 116 and 81 to 123 while the bands for the three chases will be 0 to 116 and 0 to 123. The full race conditions will be published by HRI in the Irish Racing Calendar on Thursday.
William Flood, Irish EBF Governor and Navan Racecourse Committee member, said: “The concept is to provide a full card of races for your mid-division rated-horse before the Christmas racing festivals kicks in.
"Navan Racecourse approached Horse Racing Ireland and the Irish EBF to support it and we are very grateful to both for their backing and help to get this new concept day off the ground.
"It was important to ensure the prize money for the entire day was given a significant uplift and thanks to the Irish EBF, this was achieved.”
Nessa Joyce, Irish EBF, Manager, said: “To complement our existing National Hunt portfolio of sponsored races, the Irish EBF are thrilled to have our name on all seven races at Navan for the new Christmas Raceday.
"The Irish EBF, which is fully funded by Irish Stallion Farms, have a significant number of registered stallions with progeny who run in National Hunt races and we clearly see the benefit of supporting an initiative like the Irish Stallion Farms Christmas Raceday at Navan. It is opening up race opportunities at a time of year that will benefit the trainers and owners of mid-division rated-horses.”
Ciaran Flynn, Navan Racecourse, Manager, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with the Irish EBF in producing a high-quality fixture with increased prize money aimed at mid division rated horses before the busy Christmas festival period.
"Irish EBF are a massive supporter of Irish racing, and we are very grateful for their support in bringing this concept to a reality. We look forward to an exciting day of racing in what is our last fixture of 2024.”
