ALTHOUGH there were none of this season’s star performers such as Australia, Kingman, Taghrooda and Slade Power involved, British Champions Weekend proved to be a wonderful two days of racing. This was the first time that the two days had been run on successive days with a week gap at least previously between the two events.

The heavy ground threatened to weaken the racing but there was no complaint from the crowd when Noble Mission dug deep to win the feature Champion Stakes. Much discussion before the event focused on the state of the ground and positioning of the event in mid-October; however there is little or no room to move British Champions Weekend earlier in the season without re-shuffling most of the racing calendar.

A crowd of 28,741 packed into Ascot, the second biggest crowd in the four-year history of this event. It is an event that continues to grow since its introduction in 2011. This is something the Irish Champions Weekend can also hope for in the coming years after this year’s excellent inaugural event.

This year 2,000 students got the opportunity to attend British Champions Day at Ascot for free in an initiative generously sponsored by QIPCO. Ascot created an exclusive student area with live music, a bar and betting facilities available. The course also offered a number of extras to add to the racing experience. A behind the scenes tour, including visits to the media centre and weigh room, was very popular with racegoers who arrived to Ascot early. A prize draw to win a brand new MINI One was a novelty event that worked extremely well. The parade ring was packed when the draw took place with people who had been given free raffle tickets during the day.

Students also had the opportunity to avail of free tickets at Future Champions Day at Newmarket on Friday. This was another exceptional day’s racing and an exciting appetiser for Saturday’s main event.

Limerick/Punchestown

BOTH the University of Limerick and the Maynooth University Racing Societies have attended race meetings in the past fortnight. Fifteen members of the UL Horse Racing Society attended the Munster National at Limerick where they received free entry, a €5 free bet and a free drink. A great value day out for all involved.

A small group from Maynooth attended the last meeting at Punchestown again with free entry. The Maynooth Equestrian club would like to thank Hilary Cahill at Punchestown Racecourse for helping to organise the day out.

Galway student race day

GALWAY’S biggest student event is on again, this coming Monday, October 27th. The Galway student race day is already proving extremely popular with all 2,000 of the €10 early bird tickets being sold out. Standard tickets are still available priced at €12.

All tickets include entry to the racecourse, live music from Ruaille Buaille and free entry into one of a number of exclusive after parties at Electric Garden & Theatre or FourFour. This year the event is being organised in conjunction with NUIG Rugby Club and Voluntary Services Abroad, with all proceeds from the event split between the two organisations. Attracting an impressive crowd of 3,000 last year, 2014 crowds will hopefully surpass this number.

For all the budding fashion icons, there will be a €500 prize on offer for the best dressed lady, kindly sponsored by The Hole In The Wall pub.

Careers talk at UCD

THE UCD Horse Racing Society hosted an industry careers talk last Tuesday. The panel of speakers included Brian Kavanagh, CEO of Horse Racing Ireland, Pat Keogh, CEO of Leopardstown Racecourse, Joe Osborne, managing director of Kildangan Stud and Meta Osborne, veterinary surgeon and steward of the Turf Club.

Each speaker discussed their past experience and how they became involved in their current roles in horseracing. This offered an invaluable insight into the many different careers involved in the industry.