PUNCHESTOWN has moved its two winter Grade 1 races to the same weekend for 2023 in what is the most significant change to next year's racing calendar.

The full fixture list was published by Horse Racing Ireland at lunchtime on Tuesday, significantly later than in recent year.

The overall number of fixtures remains at 390.

Both the Grade 1 Morgiana Hurdle and the Grade 1 John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase will now be held on the same weekend at Punchestown on November 25th and 26th, bringing the John Durkan forward from its traditional early December date.

Navan Racecourse will also stage a two-day meeting a week earlier (November 18th and 19th) which will see the For Auction, Lismullen and Monksfield hurdles and the Fortria Chase and Troytown Handicap Chase run over two successive days.

As was the case this year, the number of blank Sundays will be retained at six, on March 19th, April 23rd, June 25th, July 16th, July 30th and October 8th. The number of Saturdays with clashing afternoon Irish race meetings has been reduced to nine in 2023, from 15 in 2022.

The fixture list for 2023 contains 387 meetings at this stage with three ‘floating fixtures’ being kept in reserve to be inserted at short notice by the Fixtures Committee of HRI at a time when demand for opportunities to run is at a high.

Flat season

There will also be a different look to the conclusion of the 2023 flat turf season with a new two-day fixture being introduced at Naas on the weekend of October 14th and 15th and a two-day all-flat fixture at Leopardstown on the following weekend. The season will end at the Curragh on Sunday, November 5th, while the flat turf season also begins at the Curragh, on Saturday, March 25th.

Jason Morris, HRI’s Director of Racing and Strategic Projects, said: “The 2023 fixture list sees a significant development of the National Hunt schedule in November with a series of two-day feature meetings now being created for both race programming and promotional benefits. The very popular Down Royal NH Festival at the start of the month will be followed by two-day meetings at Navan (featuring the Fortria and Troytown), Punchestown (featuring the Morgiana and the re-located John Durkan Memorial Chase from early December), leading into the hugely successful Fairyhouse Winter Festival in early December.

“There was widespread industry consultation and support for these changes, which will produce a series of high-profile, top-quality meetings at the start of the core jumps season. The end of the flat turf season has also been rearranged in October with two-day meetings in Naas and Leopardstown, leading into a season ending finale at the Curragh in early November.

“Overall, we have retained the same total number of meetings at 390, with 387 being published and keeping three in reserve as floating fixtures to ensure that we can respond with flexibility and speed to the needs of the horse population during next year. Maintaining the competitiveness and quality of Irish racing is paramount as it underpins the racegoing experience, the value of our media rights and the appeal of our bloodstock to international markets. This is reflected in our continuing international successes and the average Irish field size, which year to date is 11.97 runners per race.

Reduce clashes

“The HRI Fixtures Committee works closely with the HRI Betting Committee and, at their behest, has reduced the number of clashing Saturday afternoon fixtures (i.e. two Irish meetings) from 15 to nine to reduce coverage congestion on these busy days.

"Significant input is also received from the HRI Industry Services Committee and the aim is always to balance the commercial aspirations of racecourses with the need to provide appropriate breaks for those working in the industry.

"We have retained six blank Sundays and kept last race times as 7.30pm for January and February, and 8.30pm for the rest of the year, while also providing three breaks in the season for the leading jump jockeys (in May, June/July and September) and a four-week break for the leading flat jockeys from mid-December to mid-January.”

Please click here for a link to the 2023 fixture list

The dates of the major racing festivals for 2023 will be:

Dublin Racing Festival February 4th & 5th

Cork Easter Festival April 8th – 10th

Fairyhouse Easter Festival April 8th – 10th

Punchestown Festival April 25th - 29th

Killarney Spring Festival May 14th – 16th

Curragh Guineas Festival May 26th – 28th

Down Royal Ulster Derby June 23rd & 24th

Curragh Derby Festival June 30th - July 2nd

Bellewstown Summer Festival July 6th – 8th

Killarney July Festival July 17th – 21st

Curragh Oaks July 22nd & 23rd

Galway Festival July 31st – August 6th

Tramore August Festival August 17th – 20th

Killarney August Festival August 24th – 26th

Irish Champions Weekend September 9th & 10th

Listowel Harvest Festival September 17th – 23rd

Down Royal NH Festival November 3rd & 4th

Navan Festival of Racing November 18th & 19th

Punchestown Winter Festival November 25th & 26th

Fairyhouse Winter Festival December 2nd & 3rd

Leopardstown Christmas Festival December 26th – 29th

Limerick Christmas Festival December 26th - 29th