A HOST of racing and equestrian stars are taking part in this year’s Treo Eile Christmas Show on Thursday, December 12th at the Emerald Equestrian Centre in Enfield.

The first of five events on the show programme starts at 12 noon, featuring the HRI Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic – a team competition to showcase the very best of Ireland’s retrained racehorses. The team competition has attracted some of racing’s brightest stars to captain the teams including Davy Russell, Robbie Power, Nina Carberry and Paul Townend.

The event will showcase the best of Ireland’s retrained racehorses, who will compete on teams of four in a timed competition, starting at 6pm. A jockey will captain each team, alongside two professional riders, who will ride a variety of former racehorses, many of whom have competed on Ireland’s racetracks for trainers, such as Jessica Harrington and Gordon Elliott. The fourth team member will be a talented pony rider.

Each rider will jump a track of fences followed by a jump-off to decide the winners of the coveted Horse Racing Ireland Perpetual Trophy. The competition has attracted some of the racing industry’s brightest stars, including Oisin Murphy and Colin Keane, while former champions Davy Russell, Aine O’Connor and Nina Carberry, will also be lining out for the big event.

Professional riders include Irish eventing Olympians Sarah Ennis and Sam Watson, and five-star winning riders, Caroline Powell from New Zealand, who won Badminton Horse Trials in 2024 and Ireland’s own Austin O’Connor. Sam Watson has entered the world of pre-training and will kick off the evening’s entertainment with a show jumping demo on his thoroughbred, Nominator.

The day will begin with two classes for thoroughbreds; the Weatherbys Ireland GSB Ltd Thoroughbred Discovery 80cm and Connolly’s Red Mills Thoroughbred Discovery 90cm. Following this, the young guns will compete in the Equuip Pony Christmas Cracker Two-Phase Competition at 80cm.

Hosts for the evening are Brendan McArdle of The Irish Field and Racing TV’s Kevin O’Ryan, who commented: “This fundraiser is such a fun evening and includes the very best humans and equines from both the racing and sport horse industries. It highlights the abilities of the thoroughbred racehorse and how easily they can transition after racing into other disciplines. There are now lots more opportunities for retiring racehorses and the Treo Eile programme encourages their participation.”

The main event is preceded at 5.30pm by the Moyglare Stud Parade of Champions, where Tiger Roll, Al Boum Photo, A Plus Tard and General Principle amongst others, will grace the arena and be shown to the public.

Food and refreshments will be on site all day. Tickets cost €15 pp, family ticket (two adults, two children) for €40, groups of 10 for €100 and can be bought in advance at https://www.itsplainsailing.com/org/te.

More information on the teams and competitions can be found on ww.treoeile.com.