TODAY’S Curragh card is pretty good but there is a lot more going on besides.
It’s the Pat Smullen Race Day in aid of Cancer Trials Ireland and the day’s racing concludes with a charity race run in memory of the nine-times champion jockey.
The race raises funds for the Pat Smullen Chair for pancreatic cancer research at University College Dublin.
In last week’s edition we listed the 20 riders taking part, and they include Pat Smullen’s son Paddy, ITM chief executive Charles O’Neill, and plenty of other familiar names from the racing scene. Most if not all of the riders have lost a family member to cancer or are taking part in honour of someone they know who is battling the disease. The riders have all raised at least €3,000 for Cancer Trials Ireland and you can still support them through their individual GoFundMe pages.
The fourth annual Coast to Curragh charity cycle is also taking place today. Organised by Gavin Lynch in memory of his late mother Olive, the cycle will see 200 participants cover between 12km and 100km, all of them descending on the Curragh by around the third race.
Those covering the full route will start from the Curragh at 10am, taking in Moyglare Stud at noon, Naas Racecourse at 1.30pm, Punchestown at 2pm, and Gilltown Stud at 2.45pm.
Web: coasttocurragh.ie
UP to 100 photographs on the theme of ‘Hoofbeats and Heartbeats’ will be displayed at the Curragh on the weekend of September 28th-29th.
Entries are still being accepted until Sunday, September 15th for a photography competition organised by the Curragh in collaboration with Horse Racing Ireland, Treo Eile, and Bermingham Cameras.
Amateurs and professionals are invited to enter and the photos will be judged under three categories – open, under 18 and public vote. The three winners will receive Canon Selphy Square QX10 Portable Colour Photo Wireless Printers, courtesy of Bermingham Cameras.
Evan Arkwright, the Curragh’s racing and sponsorship manager, said: “The Curragh and its surroundings are home to many trainers and farms, so we see daily the unique connection that exists between thoroughbreds and those who raise, train, and care for them.”
HRI director of equine welfare and bloodstock John Osborne added: “Irish racing is full of beautiful moments and the most compelling often highlight the close relationship that exists between racehorses and their humans. The exhibition will showcase this relationship and celebrate the rich and rewarding lives of Ireland’s racehorses, from birth to retirement.”
OVER 100 retired stud and stable staff attended the second annual celebration lunch in their honour at Naas Racecourse last Sunday. Bernard Caldwell of the Irish Stablestaff Association reported: “It was great to see some old friends and their partners at the races. Naas looked after them very well and Dermot Weld popped in to talk about all the changes in racing over the years.”
Among the guests was Ray Carthy, who worked for Sir Hugh Nugent and looked after top miler Red Slipper in the late 1960s.
BERNADETTE Hayden, wife of retired racehorse trainer John, has attracted national media coverage in recent days.
Aged 83, Bernadette sat the Leaving Certificate Irish exam this year and received an O1 grade, the highest grade possible in the Ordinary Level exam.
Bernadette still teaches music in Kildare and last year she sat the Leaving Cert music exam but says she is putting away the schoolbooks for good now.
John and Bernadette live in Castlemartin Abbey in Kilcullen, next door to Castlemartin Stud. John trained plenty of winners for Castlemartin’s previous owners, the late Tony and Chryss O’Reilly.