Racecourse attendances, on-course betting and sponsorship all grew last year, a period when Ireland’s horse racing and breeding industry again performed very well in many key areas.

Statistics for 2025, released today by Horse Racing Ireland, also reveal gains in the areas of prize money, field sizes and owner retention.

The biggest growth of all the metrics measured came in the combined value of €225.4m bloodstock sales at public auction, up by 14%.

Attendances grew by 6% to an overall figure of 1.316m at Ireland’s 390 racing fixtures during the year.

The overall handle through the Tote amounted to €81.3m, a climb of 7.2% on the previous 12 months. This figure incorporates €10.6m through the Tote on course (up by 1.9%) and €62.8m off course (up by 9.0%) on Irish pools. The World Pool betting into some of Ireland’s biggest flat fixtures realised €7.9m in turnover, an increase of 1.3% on a year earlier.

Commercial sponsorship has continued to show growth, rising by 2.9% to €7.0m. The support from the Irish EBF strengthened by 6.9% to €3.1m.

Prize money offered amounted to €70.76m, up by 1.2% on the 2024 figure. Prize money won in Britain by Irish-trained horses came in at exactly £20m, slightly down by 2% on the comparable figure in 2024. However, throughout the rest of the world our horses earned 35.8% more than in 2024.

The average field sizes grew very slightly to 11.51 runners per race, although the volume of entries slipped by 5.1%. The total number of runners at 33,230 remained virtually identical year-on-year.

In the area of racehorse ownership, the total number of owners was up by 1.1% to 4,791 with owner retention improved by 3% to 76.2%. The year witnessed the recruitment of 790 new owners to the sport, down by 5.7% on the prior year and 3.5% over two years. Notably, the number of companies registered as owners jumped by 15.1% to 206.

Suzanne Eade, CEO of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), said:

“The industry figures for 2025 reveal a racing and breeding industry that performed well.

“Attendances were strong, and many tracks around the country showed increased attendance figures year-on-year. The bigger festivals performed strongly, and Punchestown’s festival being up by over 15% to more than 136,000 patrons is a good example. The Irish Derby weekend at the Curragh, the Galway Races, Listowel’s Harvest meeting and Leopardstown at Christmas all posted gains as well.

“Prize money, betting turnover, the value of bloodstock sales and sponsorship all moved in a positive direction, too. These are indicators that our sport is in good health and that it continues to hold a broad appeal.

“Of course, there are always challenges to face, but our budget for this year seeks to address those key areas. The targets laid out in our Strategic Plan 2024-2028 are designed to enhance how all aspects of the industry perform. As we get closer to these stated aims, these improvements, we believe, will yield even stronger results in the years to come.”

CLICK HERE FOR 2025 IRISH THOROUGHBRED RACING INDUSTRY STATISTICS