Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM), with the support of Horse Racing Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, is coordinating the introduction of Barrier Trials to Ireland, starting at Dundalk Stadium from May 2018.
The first set of Trials will take place on May 2 when two batches of six horses will trial before racing at Dundalk. The next date is set for May 6 at the same venue under the same format.
Barrier Trials are mock races with horses beginning from starting stalls as they would in official races. In other parts of the world they serve as education and race practice for horses, being especially valuable for unraced horses. There is no material incentive to achieve a best possible placing in a Trial. It is just practice.
While those benefits will also apply in Ireland, ITM is primarily motivated to introduce Barrier Trials to Ireland to promote increased sales of unraced horses overseas. This is because certain markets, especially in Asia, will only accept unraced horses and Ireland is missing out on significant sales opportunities as a result.
For example, as has been the case over the past year, Hong Kong will import 310 ‘PPGs’ (unraced thoroughbreds) during its 2018/19 season and only a very small percentage of those come from Ireland. The vast majority hail from Australia and New Zealand where Trials have been a feature for decades. It is felt that Ireland will stand a better chance of improving its share of this and other lucrative markets by initiating Barrier Trials.
Restricted to unraced 2yo and 3yo horses, those participating must have a starting stalls certificate, be in the care of a fully licensed trainer and be ridden by licensed jockeys under catchweights, ie. without assigned weights, as is the practice overseas. The cost will be €100, payable to Dundalk Racecourse, as is the case for schooling races.
The trials will be recorded, timed and available to view on ITM’s website and social media channels. Entries for trials can be made through the ITM website, or by emailing [email protected]. Alternatively, trainers can call 087 112 1625.
