RED MILLS Irish EBF Auction Hurdle Series - 14 qualifiers, each worth €20,000, final worth €75,000
Galway to host one Qualifier as part of October Festival
Irish European Breeders’ Fund today announced Connolly’s RED MILLS as co-sponsor of the Irish EBF NH Auction Hurdle Series that will run from September 2018 until April 2019. The series gets underway at Listowel on September 11th with a €20,000 maiden and finishes in April 2019 with a valuable €75,000 final and total prize-money of €355,000.
Speaking about the announcement, John O’Connor, Irish EBF Chairman, said: “Irish EBF wholeheartedly welcome the involvement of Connolly’s RED MILLS with the much-anticipated National Hunt Auction Hurdle Series. Irish EBF, Horse Racing Ireland and now RED MILLS will support this series to encourage the purchase of NH store horses at auction and give owners and trainers an immense opportunity to target the series with horses costing €45,000 or less.”
Tom Mullins, trainer, commented: “I think this is a brilliant initiative and a great way to bring new owners into the game, we need these owners to keep it lively and vibrant. To buy a horse for €45,000 or less and be able to target this series with a chance to win and perhaps cover your purchase price is wonderful. I will be checking the auction price of all my horses to see which ones are eligible for the upcoming races this September.”
The series will consist of 14 maiden and novice hurdle races from September 2018 to April 2019, each worth a minimum of €20,000, with a final in April worth €75,000. Entry into the final is limited to horses which have run in one of the previous races in the series. The conditions will specify that all horses must be by an EBF registered stallion and bought as an unraced three or four-year-old at a recognised National Hunt Store sale for €45,000 or less, with weight allowances depending on purchase price. In addition, the ITBA have agreed to boost the series by including the €5,000 Weatherbys/ITBA NH Fillies Bonus Scheme for all races in the series.
Gareth Connolly, Sales and Marketing Director at Connolly’s RED MILLS said: “This is more than a sponsorship, this is our direct contribution back to the industry that supports us 365 days of the year. We understand the challenges that trainers and owners are facing and felt this was another perfect opportunity to partner with the Irish EBF to deliver another valuable series. We have had remarkable success with Irish EBF and our partner supplement company Foran Equine, seeing huge interest and participation in the Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Series. The aim is to do the same now on the National Hunt side with RED MILLS.
“Like all things, sport is evolving, and the competitive margins are getting tighter and tighter. Our focus is on evolving our products and services to meet the demands of our customers including a comprehensive approach to high performance nutrition bringing together the science and expertise of both feed and supplements. We hope both these series will give us the opportunity to showcase what we offer while at the same time helping to provide opportunities to our customers.”
Red Mills Irish EBF Auction Hurdle Series Races 2018-2019
11-Sep-18 Listowel €20,000 Listowel Harvest Festival
06-Oct-18 Gowran Park €20,000 PWC Champion Chase Day
21-Oct-18 Cork €20,000 Launch of Cork NH season
28-Oct-18 Galway €20,000 October Festival
18-Nov-18 Punchestown €20,000 Punchestown Winter Festival
25-Nov-18 Navan €20,000 Ladbrokes Troytown Chase Day
26-Dec-18 Down Royal €20,000 Boxing Day Meeting
28-Dec-18 Limerick €20,000 Limerick Christmas Racing Festival
20-Jan-19* Thurles €20,000 Kinloch Brae Chase Day
24-Jan-19* Gowran Park €20,000 Goffs Thyestes Chase Day
09-Feb-19* Naas €20,000 Opera Hat Mares Chase Day
23-Feb-19* Fairyhouse €20,000 Bobbyjo Chase Day
04-Mar-19* Leopardstown €20,000 National Hunt Finale Day
24-Mar-19* Downpatrick €20,000 Ulster National Chase Day
April-19* TBA €75,000
*2019 Dates provisional
IRISH EBF BACKGROUND
Set up in 1983 as a self-help scheme with a very simple and straightforward premise, every year the stallion owners in Ireland voluntarily pay the equivalent of an average nomination fee for each of their stallions into the Irish EBF fund. Only the progeny of these EBF-registered stallions can enter EBF sponsored races and benefit from the extra prize money. You can check the EBF status of any stallion by going to www.ebfstallions.com
In total, Irish EBF has contributed over €42 million to Irish prize-money since 1983, with the current 2018 annual investment now at €2.2 million, making Irish Stallion Farms the largest sponsor of racing in Ireland. The breakdown of the 2018 sponsorship is as follows;
Flat (€1.6 million in additional prize-money for nearly 300 races)
National Hunt (€550,000 in additional prize-money for about 150 races)
The vast distribution of the fund across nearly 450 races represents the ethos of the Irish EBF, to ensure everyone has an opportunity to benefit from the scheme.
Each year, working closely with HRI, the Irish EBF Governors’ create a programme of Irish EBF-sponsored races targeted to support both Flat and National Hunt races in Ireland that are judged to support the Irish racing industry. The Irish EBF board, led by John O’Connor (Chairman) and Joe Foley (Deputy Chairman) feel a strong responsibility to ensure the funds are best distributed to benefit Irish racing and to recognise the many stallion owners who voluntarily contribute every year.
Connolly’s RED MILLS BACKGROUND
FOR over 100 years, Connolly’s RED MILLS has never stopped building on our reputation for converting fresh, natural ingredients into the most trusted feed for peak performance right around the world. Since Michael Connolly bought the famous mill in Goresbridge, County Kilkenny in 1908, Connolly’s RED MILLS has used those core values to grow from a local mill in South-East Ireland, to a global brand, sold in 74 countries around the world.
Innovation by five generations of the Connolly family has built a name that never stands still, found and trusted from Malta to Mongolia, and Belgium to Bahrain. A brand that feeds champions from the UK and Ireland, to Continental Europe, the USA, Japan and in the Far East.
Today, Connolly’s RED MILLS houses one of the most advanced testing laboratories for ingredient quality, and Naturally Occurring Prohibited Substances. It has created exclusive, ground-breaking technology to build a Nutrient Fresh Management System, key to its exporting model. It has grown into a leading name in animal feeds and agri services, built a state-of-the-art pet food factory, a 3,000 sq. metre country store, and taken over Foran Equine, a market leader in equine healthcare products.
Connolly’s RED MILLS now feeds 93 Group 1 winners in 14 countries, (stats correct as of January 2018) with nothing outsourced and still 50% of the grain used in all feeds grown locally. We have never lost touch with our core values, nor with the County Kilkenny community that helped found RED MILLS with us.
