NH heroes on parade

GRAND National winner Minella Times and runner-up Balko Des Flos will be joined by Cheltenham heroes Honeysuckle, Put The Kettle On and Minella Indo in the Tramore Racecourse parade ring at 2.20pm on Sunday. The racing is being televised on TG4, as well as Racing TV.

Survey for all breeders

ALL breeders are encouraged to participate in a survey being conducted by the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association. The survey is being circulated by Weatherbys and aims to gauge breeders’ concerns in general and ITBA members’ satisfaction with the service provided.

Breeders who have not yet received a copy of the survey should contact Una Tormey at the ITBA on 045 877543 or email utormey@itba.ie

Blackmore booked for Paris

RACHAEL Blackmore has been booked by top French trainer David Cottin to ride Ajas in the Grand Steeple Chase de Paris at Auteuil on Sunday, May 23rd. The three-mile, six-furlong Grade 1 is the most prestigious race in the French jump racing calendar.

Cottin’s retained jockey Kevin Nabet will partner stable companion Le Berry, who is likely to start favourite. Davy Russell won the ‘Grand Steep’ in 2019 aboard Carriacou but a female jockey has never won the race.

ITM’s Grade 1 bumper

IRISH Thoroughbred Marketing is sponsoring the Grade 1 bumper at the Punchestown Festival. The early entries for the €100,000 ‘ITM - Supporting The Irish Store Sales Champion INH Flat Race’ include Cheltenham winner Sir Gerhard and runner-up Kilcruit.

National TV viewing figures

OVER half a million people in Ireland watched Virgin Media’s television coverage of the Grand National last weekend. Viewing numbers reached a peak of 507,400 when the race started at 5.15pm.

This compares with a peak audience of 355,000 reported by RTÉ for the Irish Grand National on Easter Monday.

ITV reported an audience of 8.8 million for its Grand National coverage, the second-highest for ITV since it took over coverage of the race.

ITBA educational series

THE Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association has waived all fees on this year’s educational programme which continues on Thursday, April 29th when Dr James Gibbons of the Irish Equine Centre gives an online talk on parasite control. The series continues on Thursday, May 6th, when Troytown Grey Abbey veterinary surgeon Pat O’Sullivan discusses the importance of a good equine dental care programme. Email kryan@itba.ie to book your space.