THE Irish European Breeders’ Fund will restore the prize money drop in the Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Series and new Irish EBF Median Sire Series.

Due to Covid-19 related prize-money cuts, each race in both series was cut by €1,000 but will now be restored to pre-Covid levels thanks to the Irish EBF, who had previously announced a record annual contribution of €2.5 million to Irish racing for 2020.

With racing now programmed up to the beginning of August, there are 10 Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction races and 11 of the new Irish EBF Median Sires races that will each benefit from the €1,000 prize-money boost.

The first of the Irish EBF Median Sires races, worth €25,000, was staged at Fairyhouse on Monday and was won by the Joseph O’Brien-trained State Of Rest, a son of Starspangledbanner.

The new series offers a range of valuable races for EBF eligible two-year-olds where the sire’s median price is no more than €75,000, €60,000 or €30,000 along with weight allowances for runners with a lower median sire price.

The first of the Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Maidens will be run at Roscommon next Monday, with €20,000 on offer. The next day there are two further races in the series, each worth €24,000, at Navan.

Chairman of the Irish EBF, John O’Connor commented: “At this crucial time for the industry it is important to look after both of these vital race series and continue to offer connections of EBF eligible two-year-olds valuable race opportunities. We commend Horse Racing Ireland on successfully scheduling 21 races from both series over June and July and we look forward to seeing connections reap the many benefits on offer.”

Foran Equine Series

The Foran Equine Series, now in its sixth year, has been hugely successful. Since its launch in 2015 the series has gone from strength to strength, seeing a significant increase in numbers of races, entries, participating trainers and prize money.

The story of last year’s series was the final winner Lustown Baba. Trained by Willie McCreery, the filly owned by the Back Road Syndicate was bought for just €12,000 and went on to win €87,480 in all throughout the series.

Gareth Connolly of Foran Equine said: “We would like to express our appreciation to the Irish EBF for restoring the prize money to pre-Covid levels.”