Horse Racing Ireland make changes to Listed races
Horse Racing Ireland has announced the creation of two new Listed races in 2013, although the Loughbrown Stakes at the Curragh will no longer feature in the programme.
The seven-furlong race, a trial for the Guineas, has been deleted from the fixture list in favour of the Patton Stakes, a Listed event for three-year-olds over that distance at Dundalk on April 5.
The name of the Loughbrown Stakes will now transfer to a two-mile race for three-year-olds and upward at the Curragh on September 29.
There are also a number of changes of dates for some existing Listed races with the Martin Moloney Stakes at Limerick moved from June 21 to May 5.
The race will now be for four-year-olds and up over 12-and-a-half furlongs to provide an additional early season opportunity for middle-distance horses.
Additionally, two Dundalk races have been moved earlier in the calendar: the Carlingford Stakes from November 15 to October 18 and the Cooley Stakes from November 8 to November 1.
HRI’s director of racing Jason Morris said: “The creation of the Guineas trial at Dundalk is due recognition for the high quality of horses that have been running on the all-weather surface there, while the new Loughbrown Stakes will provide a first black type opportunity over a distance beyond 14 furlongs and is ideally located in the calendar after the Irish St Leger and before British Champions Day.”
