A FULL field of 16 horses and three reserves being declared for Ireland’s first academy hurdle at Cork last Sunday has been described as an “encouraging” start to the concept by Horse Racing Ireland’s head of racing and insights Richard Pugh.

There have been a mixture of opinions on the series of races designed to get Irish National Hunt horses started earlier in their careers. HRI points to data that suggests speeding up the beginning to a young thoroughbred’s racing life can have a positive impact on their performances and longevity, and trainers like Henry de Bromhead and Shark Hanlon have spoken out in favour of the initiative.

On the opposite side of the argument, however, Noel Meade described the race conditions that allow an academy hurdle winner to run in a bumper or maiden hurdle unpenalised as “like something out of an episode of Father Ted”. Willie Mullins last week said the series “broadly goes against the integrity of racing”.

Mullins still had a runner in the opening academy hurdle, though, with Ronnie’s Rascal finishing third behind the Jessica Harrington-trained winner Quinta Do Lago - a Galiway gelding bought for €95,000 in Book 2 of the Goffs Orby Sale two years ago. Denis Hogan’s Free Eagle runner-up Lucy The Wire was also bought at that same flat sale for €4,500.

Other trainers involved included Joseph O’Brien, Gordon Elliott, John McConnell, Declan Queally, Mags Mullins and Philip Rothwell.

“As far as the start of the concept goes, we had 19 trainers and 27 horses involved. It was the highest entry of any National Hunt race in Ireland last weekend. That’s encouraging,” Pugh told The Irish Field.

“It was designed to give people an outlet to get horses active earlier, because we have a lot of data to support that the Irish breed is every bit as good as the French breed, given an equal chance. This is a chance for the Irish breeder, or whoever buys from the Irish breeder, to do just that.

Numbers up

“In the entire calendar year of 2023, only seven National Hunt debutants ran in juvenile hurdles. They ran well, two of them won. Now we have 27 horses looking to get started; more horses in one race than was the case over a whole year.”

Details were announced last week for an expansion of the series, though there are just seven academy hurdles to be run in Ireland before the end of 2025.

Pugh added: “After seven races this year, we will review them. If and where there are tweaks to be made, we’ll be more than open and willing to listen.”

Questions have also been asked as to whether allowing flat-bred horses to run in the series is fair, especially at a time when many National Hunt breeders have been trying to navigate choppy waters in terms of selling young stock. There are just 700 foals entered in the upcoming Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale - well down from the more than 1,100 catalogued for the same sale in 2022.

Asked if National Hunt foal crop sizes are impacting the shape of HRI’s race programming, Pugh said: “HRI’s strategy is always cognisant of where the wider industry is at. We recently announced measures, only a week ago, that allow for that. These include the development of the National Hunt auction races, academy hurdles being extended, the National Hunt finals and other incentives that we feel can target the areas that need the help. This is to allow the industry to be the best it can be over the coming years.”