NAAS Racecourse is hoping to attract a bumper crowd to its August bank holiday meeting by offering racegoers free admission and a chance to win a trip to the Rugby World Cup.

The €300,000 Irish EBF Ballyhane Stakes is the feature race on the August 7th card and it has already attracted 345 entries. The six-furlong median auction race is confined to two-year-olds whose sire established one or more yearling sales last year with a median price of not more than €75,000.

This is the fourth year of the race which last year was won by Joseph O’Brien’s Voce Del Palio, who was sold afterwards to race in Hong Kong. Future Grade 1 winner Victoria Road finished fourth. Fourth home in the 2020 edition was State Of Rest, who went on to win four Group/Grade 1 races.

Speaking at the launch of the 2023 race this week, Joe Foley of Ballyhane Stud said: “The race is basically a copy of the Magic Million in Australia - a high jackpot target for commercial horses and a chance to add value to those horses. We hope to pay prize money to all 24 runners this year.”

Joseph O’Brien said: “Any time you can run for a pot of this nature, especially with horses below the top tier, is a very easy sell. The race comes at a good time when there is great trade for horses at that level to go to America or the Far East.”

Richard Fahey has had a runner in the race every year so far. He said: “We’ve been lucky enough to win almost all of the sales races in England I do want to win this one at some stage. I thought I would win it last year with Rousing Encore. He finished fifth and went on to place second in the Mill Reef Stakes. The owner was well looked after at Naas and has bought another horse with the aim of going back to Naas again.”

The Irish EBF Ballyhane Stakes is the most valuable of the 24 races in the Irish EBF Median Sires Series. All of them carry the €75,000 median sire price restriction and there are allowances of up to 8lb for the cheaper horses.

Acknowledging the contribution of the Irish EBF, Foley said: “They are putting in a record €2.7 million into Irish prize money this year, all funded by voluntary contributions from stallion owners. There are 500 races supported by the Irish EBF this year and they include a new €50,000 median sires nursery at Cork in the autumn over six furlongs, which is an alternative target for horses not suited by the seven furlongs of the €120,000 Irish EBF Auction Series Final at Naas in October. It’s the richest nursery in Ireland.”

Returning to the Irish EBF Ballyhane Stakes, there is also a free nomination to any Ballyhane Stud stallion for the winning breeder.

A sweepstake on the day will see each of the 24 runners in the race assigned to a racegoer. The person holding a ticket with the name of the winning horse will receive a two-night package for the Ireland-South Africa rugby match in Paris on September 23rd.

Naas Racecourse manager Eamonn McEvoy said: “We would normally get 2,000 people at this meeting but hopefully free admission will bring a good few more. Everyone at Naas is very grateful to Ballyhane for their support by also sponsoring the gate. The fixture comes a day after the Galway Festival and there should be a really good holiday atmosphere. I think the rugby prize will bring people who would not normally go racing.”