A total of 43 nominations have been made for the 2023 Horse Racing Ireland Awards which will be presented in Dublin in early December.
Three Classic-winning horses and a trio of Willie Mullins stars make up the nominations for the Horse of the Year Award. Top filly Tahiyra and top colts Auguste Rodin and Paddington were among the stars of the Flat season while Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs and his stable companions Energumene and State Man fly the flag in the category for the jumping brigade.
Champion jockey Paul Townend and trainers Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott and Barry Connell are the four nominees for the National Hunt Award while Aidan O'Brien, Paddy Twomey, Colin Keane and Ryan Moore are chasing the honours in the Flat Award.
There are eight names going forward for the National Hunt Achievement Award: Michael O'Sullivan for his championship-winning season and multiple Grade 1 success, Emmet Mullins for his Punchestown festival exploits with Feronily, Patrick Mullins who celebrated his 800th career winner in September, John Kiely for his Cheltenham Festival success, John McConnell for his handling of Seddon last season, Martin Brassil for his Grade 1 Punchestown festival win, Liam Burke who rode a bumper winner at 66 years of age and Henry de Bromhead who brought the curtain down on the stunning career of Honeysuckle with a fourth Grade 1 Cheltenham Festival win for the brilliant mare.
In the Flat Achievement Award category, there are seven nominees: Wesley Joyce for his truly remarkable comeback after suffering terrible injuries in a racecourse fall, Jamie Powell for a fine season that ultimately saw him crowned champion apprentice having ridden winners for 20 different trainers, Donnacha O'Brien for his handling of Porta Fortuna, Fozzy Stack for his breakthrough Grade 1 success in America with Aspen Grove, Adrian Murray who won a first Group 1 with Bucanero Fuerte, Ken Condon for his latest top level win with Moss Tucker and Natalia Lupini for her season-long success, headed by the exciting Kitty Rose.
There are four nominations for the Racecourse of the Year Award: Ballinrobe, Leopardstown, Naas and Punchestown. The findings of an online industry survey taken earlier this year – in which almost 1,500 people responded to a variety of questions, including several on Irish racecourses – was used to determine the nominees for this award.
The five nominees for the Point-to-Point Award are Derek O'Connor, Barry O'Neill, Colin Bowe, Maxine O'Sullivan and Pa King with five also nominated for the Emerging Talent Award: jockeys John Gleeson, Danny Gilligan, Ben Harvey, Conor Stone-Walsh and trainer Cian Collins.
Suzanne Eade, CEO of Horse Racing Ireland, said: “Irish racing is blessed to have such a deep pool of talent and I’m not envious of those tasked with picking the nominations for our annual awards. There are some wonderful and uplifting stories among the nominees and I wish everyone the very best of luck.”
The Horse of the Year, and the winners of the awards in the categories of National Hunt, National Hunt Achievement, Flat, Flat Achievement, Point-to-Point and Emerging Talent will be decided by a ballot of the HRI Awards committee, made up of members of the various sections of the Irish racing media.
Separately, a public vote will decide the outcome of the 2023 Ride of the Year with the contenders to be announced shortly. ]
A total of 43 nominations are in with chance of joining last year's line up as HRI Award winners
