2019 Horse Racing Ireland Fixture List Announced

The 2019 Fixture List for Irish racing has beenreleased today by Horse Racing Ireland.   Fixtures for next year reflect the needs of racegoers and industryprofessionals, as well as an exciting schedule built to mark theopening of the redeveloped Curragh racecourse. The additionalfestival days introduced in 2018 are retained for next year, andsignificant changes have been made to the programme to ease theworkload of stable staff and costs to trainers. The fixture listfeatures increased blank Sundays during the busy summer months ofthe year, and earlier race times to meet concerns.   The opening of the newly redeveloped Curragh is strongly reflectedin the 2019 fixture list with a restored full fixture allocation of19 race meetings in a much changed configuration. The Curraghseason starts on Saturday April 13, with a three-day Guineas SpringFestival from Friday May 24 to Sunday May 26 with a Group 1 race oneach day. The Irish Derby festival moves to a Thursday-to-Saturdayschedule in late June, with the Irish Derby now providing theclimax on the Saturday. The racecourse’s four traditionalAugust meetings will all move to Friday evenings.     Cognisant of the pressure in the industry around staffing, thenumber of completely blank Sundays in the summer months has beenincreased to five (from three) while there will also be five otherSundays during the Flat turf season with no Flat racing scheduled.There will be an earlier finishing time of no later than 8.45pm for10 months of the year, with an 8.30pm last race time at Dundalk inthe first two months of the year.   The two built-in breaks for National Hunt jockeys have beenretained with the late June-early July break extended from 9 to 12days. Principal features of the 2019 fixture listare:<ul><li style='margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt'>The Curragh will stage 19fixtures including an extended three-day Spring Festival in May, aThursday-Saturday Irish Derby festival and four Friday eveningfixtures in August. </li><li style='margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt'>There will be fivecompletely blank Sundays during the summermonths.</li><li style='margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt'>The main break for NHjockeys is extended to 12 days (from 9), with the second break of 8days (for senior riders)retained</li><li style='margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt'>The Flat turf season willcontinue to commence and conclude at Naas with high quality Sundayfixtures on March 24 and November 3respectively.</li><li style='margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt'>There will be 15 extra Flatraces in the April-Juneperiod</li><li style='margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt'>Total fixtures for 2019 are361, compared to 363 in 2018, with a further two summer fixtures tobe allocated to Dundalk pending clarification over plans to replacethe all-weathersurface.</li></ul>Announcing the 2019 Fixture List, Brian Kavanagh,Chief Executive of HRI,said:   “The 2019 fixture list has been developed with the needs ofboth the customer and those working in the industry in mind. 2018enhancements such as extra festival dates at Bellewstown, Killarneyand Galway, and the newly inaugurated Dublin Racing Festival havebeen retained, while an exciting new fixture list for the Curraghwill coincide with the opening of the redeveloped racecourse.Consideration has also been taken of the needs of theindustry’s workforce with the introduction of extra blankSundays and earlier finishing times where possible. 2019 will be anexciting year for Irish racing and the publication of the fixturelist today certainly whets the appetite.”   Commenting on the changesmade to the fixture list to ease the workload on stable staff, theISSA Chairman, Bernard Caldwell, said:   “We warmly welcome the changes in the fixtures for 2019, andwe’re delighted that staff will have extra Sundays off nextyear. The earlier changes to the race times are also very welcomeand that’s something we’ve been requesting for sometime, so we’re delighted.”   ChiefExecutive of the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association, MichaelGrassick, also welcomed those changes:    “This is a strong step in the right direction. It’ssomething that the IRTA have been lobbying for and it’s animportant development for my members as they try to reduce theworkload of our staff. I’m glad that the 2019 fixture listreflects these views.”   Thedates of the major racing Festivals for 2019 willbe: