As the curtain comes down on the IHRA’s inaugural 3YO trotting championship tomorrow at Annaghmore Raceway, we would like to thank all members who bought or bred a brood mare in 2016 to kick start the IHRA Trotteur Francais breeding programme on the Island of Ireland.
The IHRA committed €100,000 in prizemoney towards the championship at the start of this year, despite all similar industries taking a deduction in prizemoney due to the pandemic. A staggering sum of €59,000 was raced for in the heats of the championship which started in on the 17th July and have ran up to last weekend in Portmarnock, which allowed horses to be best positioned in each of the three finals being held tomorrow afternoon.
The 2020 finals will be run for a total of €42,000, with the top division, (division one running for €20,000), the second tier running for €13,000 and the third division for €9,000.
In 2020, the IHRA have been paying out breeders of these Trotteur Francais horses, 5% of the prizemoney and this will continue for the remainder of these horses racing careers. It will increase over the next four years to 7.5% of all earnings in races ran under IHRA rules to the breeder for future Irish TF horses. It may be a small amount to each breeder on an annual basis, but it the beginning of the IHRA’s wiliness to recognise the breeder’s contribution in our ever growing industry. Since the induction of the new breeding premiums available which were announced earlier this year, the IHRA can confirm that breeding numbers are up significantly on last year and we would sincerely like to thank Moorside Stud & Newtown Stud for helping us achieve this goal.
We would like to congratulate our Three Year Old Owners who have made it this far and wish them the best of luck in the finals. The IHRA are delighted the series was able to progress after been delayed due to Covid-19.
In 2021 we will also have a four year championship in addition to the advertised three year old championship.