A WEEK ahead of the start of the 2025 turf flat season, the Curragh has made further improvements to its prize money levels and upgraded facilities for racehorse owners.

Last year the Curragh made headlines by announcing that no race at any of its 24 meetings would be worth less than €20,000. Widely welcomed, the move saw races which catered for low-grade handicappers offering double the €10,000 minimum purse as set out by Horse Racing Ireland.

However, the initiative created an anomaly in that it meant lowly-rated horses sometimes won more prize money than a horse placed in a stakes race on the same card. It was a point picked up by trainer Ger Lyons in September, who noted that his 107-rated sprinter My Mate Alfie earned far less for finishing third in the Group 3 Phoenix Sprint Stakes than the winner of the 0-65 handicap on the same day.

Now the Curragh has tweaked race conditions to favour better quality runners. Curragh CEO Brian Kavanagh said: “The €20,000 minimum purse initiative was well-received but we have taken feedback on board and given a premium to the better handicaps.

“This year the 0-70 handicaps will be worth €18,000, the 0-80s will be €22,000, the 0-90s €26,000 and the 0-100 handicaps worth €35,000.

“Listed races will go up to €50,000 and Group 3 races will be a minimum of €60,000. We’re still in discussions with some race sponsors which could lead to us doing even more on prize money this year.”

Kavanagh wants to see the Curragh build on good results for 2024. “Last year we drove our prize money forward, we had 70 different winning trainers across our 24 fixtures and a lot of English success. Of our 11 Group 1 races, five went to the UK, three to Aidan O’Brien and three to other Irish trainers.”

The Curragh boss also had news of a new home for racehorse owners at flat racing’s HQ. “The Oaks Restaurant, which overlooks both the parade ring and the winning post, will be the permanent base for owners this year,” he said. “We very much value owners who have runners here and we want to welcome them and their guests. The Oaks Restaurant has a bar area and we hope to create a club atmosphere there.”

Kavanagh also reported that the racing surface has wintered well and that Richie Brophy had rejoined the groundstaff team.

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