NAAS Racecourse continues to improve its racing programme and has been awarded a new listed race.

The track will stage the first running of the Marwell Stakes on July 22nd. It will be over five furlongs and restricted to two-year-old fillies.

The Curragh’s Marble Hill Stakes on Guineas weekend has been upgraded from listed status to Group 3. Three of the last four winners – Caravaggio, Fairyland and Siskin – have gone on to win at Group 1 level.

The European Pattern Committee did not downgrade any Irish blacktype race but the Legacy Stakes for two-year-olds is in danger of being downgraded in 2021. A spokesperson for Horse Racing Ireland said: “The race has been underperforming and is subject to a potential automatic downgrade in 2021 if not achieving the required listed race rating parameter in 2020.”

In an attempt to preserve its status, the race has been changed from six furlongs at the Curragh to five furlongs at Dundalk on October 2nd. “This ensures it will be run on a quicker surface at that time of the year and provide a lead-in opportunity for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint.”

Other minor changes to the Irish programme include the relocation of the Listed Martin Molony Stakes in Limerick from mid-October to mid-June (19th), a slot which it was in previously,

Elsewhere in Europe, two German Group 2 races were downgraded and the German Derby has been put on notice that it could be downgraded next year. A similar warning was issued regarding the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud in France and a trio of French Group 2 races – the Greffulhe, Hocquart and Eugene Adam.