ON another busy weekend of racing, one of the highlights will be the first running of the €320,000 Irish EBF Ballyhane Stakes at Naas on Sunday.

A full field of 20 juveniles go to post for the six-furlong contest and all of them will win prize money. There is also a consolation race on Sunday’s card for those who missed out on the main event, with prize money for the first 10 home.

The race is part of the new median sires series, which comprises 24 races, each worth €25,000, and Sunday’s jackpot event. To be eligible, horses must be sired by a stallion whose progeny sold for a median price of €75,000 or less at last year’s major yearling sales. Some races in the series were restricted to the progeny of stallions with a median price of €30,000 and €60,000.

Originally the plan was to stage the Ballyhane Stud-sponsored ‘final’ at Naas on the August bank holiday Monday, just after the Galway Festival. Because the start of the flat racing season was delayed, the big money race was put back by three weeks.

Joe Foley of Ballyhane said: “It not an ideal position, coming so soon after York where there was a similar race, but in the year that’s in it we are lucky to be racing at all. Hopefully next year we will revert to the intended date and we have great ideas to make the raceday special for racegoers and the owners once they are back on track.”

Commercial incentive

Explaining the background to the concept, Foley said: “The idea came through as part of the Irish EBF initiative to provide more opportunities for commercially bought yearlings, including a big jackpot race to target. Something along the lines of the Magic Millions races in Australia.”

After crunching the numbers with Horse Racing Ireland, the Irish EBF and Ballyhane Stud were prepared to launch the race last autumn, guaranteeing a purse of €200,000. However, when the entries closed in February it became obvious just how popular the initiative was with owners and trainers.

There were 563 initial entries, thought to be an Irish racing record. Again the calculators came out and the race organisers quickly announced that the total purse has been raised to €320,000 and there would also be an €80,000 consolation race.

“We kept the entry fee as low as we could to encourage entries – HRI even suspended a ruling to do it,” Foley said. “We were keen not to go down the route of asking owners to spend a lot to win a lot. It only cost €1,000 to enter and run in the race. We were adamant that all the entry fees would go into prize money.”

In a year when prize money levels at the top end have been slashed, Sunday’s race is now one of the most valuable two-year-old races in Europe. In fact it might yet end up as the richest of them all in 2020, depending on how the autumn plays out in England and France.

“Ultimately this is all about generating enthusiasm to buy yearlings and race them as two-year-olds,” Foley added. “It seems to be working. A number of trainers told us that this series influenced their decision to buy yearlings.”

Bonus prize

Ballyhane Stud has put up a €50,000 bonus if the winner is by a Ballyhane Stud stallion.

Nessa Joyce of the Irish EBF said: “Three races at Naas will showcase how the Irish EBF is supporting Irish racing this year. The €320,000 Irish EBF Ballyhane Stakes and the €80,000 Silver Stakes will give connections of 40 two-year-olds the chance to take home some of the record €400,000 prize-money on offer, and the Irish EBF €65,000 Group 3 Stanerra Stakes will see top-class fillies and mares compete for valuable blacktype. Thank you to our contributors, Irish stallion farms, for supporting Irish racing and we wish everyone the best of luck on Sunday.”