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HORSE Racing Ireland's chief executive Suzanne Eade says she is "reasonably satisfied" with key industry statistics for the six months of the year which are "broadly positive."
The statistics published on Thursday show that prize money, attendances, recruitment of new owners and the value of horses sold at auction are among the metrics that trended positively for the first six months of 2026.
As announced in January by HRI, prize money in Irish racing is increasing by €4.3 million this year. This was reflected in a 5.4% uplift in purses to €33.2 million until the end of June. The improved race values came into effect in March.
Attendances rose by 0.7% on the equivalent figure a year ago which was up by 6.9% on that achieved over the same time span in 2024. The postponement of day one of the Dublin Racing Festival from a sold-out Saturday fixture to Monday, and a total of nine rescheduled or abandoned fixtures in the first two months of 2026 due to bad weather, had an adverse effect on this year’s total to date.
A total of 486 new names joined the ownership ranks in the first half of this year, up 17.9% on the corresponding number in 2025. Active owners remained steady at 3,860.
Of all the key benchmarks registered, the value of bloodstock sales at public auction fared best, soaring by 20.9% to €82.7 million.
Individual runners that won prize money until the end of June lifted by 1.4% to 3,873.
On-course betting turnover with bookmakers slipped by 4.8% to €34 million, although the equivalent handle on-course through the Tote grew by 5.5% to €3.8 million.
The off-course performance by the Tote on Irish pools has been strong, leaping 11.1% to €31.1 million. Turnover for the classic meetings open to the World Pool grew by 5.7% to €55.4 million.
Race sponsorship rose by 4.3% to €4.8 million.
In terms of horses on the track, the total number of runners on Irish racecourses was up by 0.8% at 14,661 with flat runners up by 3.5% to 6,534. National Hunt runners fell slightly by 1.3% to 8,127.
Field sizes remain at the same average of 11.4 participants. The overall quantity of races run was up by 1.3% to 1,288 – 576 on the flat (up by 2.5%) and 712 over jumps (up by 0.4%).
New guidelines on traceability and horse welfare introduced in early 2025 requires trainers to notify HRI of all thoroughbred horses in their care in accordance with IHRB Rule 148. Horses in the care of trainers and ‘Racing Active’ (race entry ready) dropped marginally by 1.2% to 8,488.
“The figures for our racing and breeding industry for the first half of this year are broadly positive,” Eade said. “Last year we made a commitment to boost prize money with the willingness and support of industry stakeholders, and that endeavour is starting to bear fruit. This is the first phase of a three-year plan we believe will restore competitiveness to Ireland’s prize money levels.
“The increase in new owners and rise in the value of bloodstock sales at auction are encouraging and not unrelated to the elevated levels of prize money. The industry can have confidence that more investment is on the way.
“Despite the bad weather severely interrupting attendances in the first two months of the year, Dublin Racing Festival still held its own, while Fairyhouse Easter Festival, Punchestown National Hunt Festival and Guineas Festival Weekend at the Curragh performed well, showing the widespread appeal of the bigger festivals and meetings.
“While we can be reasonably satisfied with these figures, the work to improve what Irish racing offers never stops. There is no winning post in this sense. An indigenous industry that delivers so much for government, for the economy, and for communities throughout the country deserves nothing less.”
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