NEXT Saturday and Sunday, Leopardstown and the Curragh stage two of the biggest days of the Irish flat racing season, with five Group 1 contests taking place over the two days, as part of the Longines Irish Champions Weekend. As chief executive of the Foxrock track, I am particularly proud to be associated with such a unique venture which allows Irish racegoers the opportunity to witness some of the world’s best racehorses at first hand.

I have a long association with Leopardstown, having first attended as a young child with my father. I am a firm believer in getting children interested in sports at an early age and in my case, that initial exposure to racing has stayed with me throughout my adult years.

I raced in the Phoenix Park and am old enough to remember Baldoyle, where I also raced. I have fond memories of enjoying racing all over Ireland. After finishing school, I went straight into AIB in 1974, starting as a foreign exchange trader and worked in many parts of the bank.

I spent a number of years abroad, in both the US and UK, during which time I continued to go racing as often as possible. While based in New York I was a regular at Aqueduct Park during the winter and both Belmont and Saratoga during the summer.

In London I lived close to Sandown Park and attended all the major tracks, as well as smaller venues such as Fontwell and Plumpton, which were close to me. I think wherever you travel in the world, you pick up experiences that you can bring back with you.

You are always learning and whenever I go racing, I’m looking at ideas that we can put in place to make Leopardstown a better place to go racing.

RETURN TO IRELAND

On my return to Ireland, I was appointed director of Corporate Banking in AIB, where I was responsible for the agri-sector, which included bloodstock in the brief. During my time in that role, I got to know a lot of people within the racing industry and continued to enjoy racing in my downtime.

I first ventured into racehorse ownership while working in London and have been involved in a number of syndicates over the years. They are a wonderful way for keen racegoers to get into the sport at a cheap level and enjoy the sport from the inside.

In 1999, I left AIB after 25 years and went to work as finance director for Coolmore. I was based in Fethard and lived in Ballypatrick.

This was a great opportunity for me and my family and we had eight great years there. While my daughter is an avid Tipperary fan and will be cheering for them tomorrow, I never swapped my Leinster jersey for a Munster one! My time in Coolmore gave me a very broad experience of the whole bloodstock industry.

I moved back to Dublin and to work for the Cosgrave Property Group in 2007. Throughout the years I remained involved in racing and breeding. In 2009, I become a director of the Tote for two years prior to my appointment as CEO at Leopardstown in 2011.

Comprising 220 acres, Leopardstown has a large number of activities in addition to the racecourse. We have an 18 hole golf course, driving range and a number of corporate facilities; all the revenue garnered from the various activities are for the benefit of racing and go back into the development of the facilities.

As CEO, I oversee the day-to-day running of the track, something I wouldn’t be able to do without the help and support of a dedicated and top class team.

The world of racing is based around a number of big days throughout the year. While Ireland always had the big races, our races in the autumn were spread out over a number of weeks in the Curragh and Leopardstown.

A number of people in the industry felt that we should bring all these big races together into one weekend of top quality racing at the two courses. We are true world leaders and this weekend would showcase both the sport and industry in the country to an international audience.

A steering group came together reresenting all parts of the industry to drive this initiative. Under the chairmanship of Harry McCalmont, the Longines Irish Champions Weekend was born. The long term aim is to make the event a truly international spectacle and, while Irish and British trainers have embraced the weekend from the outset, we are now seeing greater interest from further afield and this year we expect a bigger representation of the top French horses.

While we have had entries from both Germany and Japan, we haven’t had a runner from either of those countries yet, though this will definitely happen in the coming years. Thanks to the support of a great group of sponsors, the prizemoney on offer is competitive with anywhere in the world.

DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT

Aside from the main action taking place on the track, Longines Irish Champions Weekend is all about giving racegoers a chance to experience racing from a different viewpoint. With that in mind, Leopardstown stages the Goffs Champions Sale in the parade ring on Saturday before racing.

The Curragh has the excellent Thoroughbred Trail on the Sunday and students get the opportunity to win a trip to Dubai as part of the Godolphin Student Initiative, which also includes visits to Kildangan Stud on both the Saturday and Sunday mornings. All these initiatives add an educational aspect to a weekend which we hope has something for everyone.

Fashion is also a major part of Longines Irish Champions Weekend and continues to grow in popularity; we are expecting to see the usual high standards next weekend.

On a personal note, Leopardstown has always held a special place in my heart and I am thrilled to be involved in both the Longines Irish Champions Weekend and the ongoing improvement of the facilities.

We are unique in that we race for 12 months of the year, staging high quality Group 1 races during the summer and the cream of the Grade 1 contests in winter.

The ambition is to develop Leopardstown into a major entertainment centre for Dublin and events like Longines Irish Champions Weekend are very much part of that plan.

Pat Keogh was in conversation with John O’Riordan