The Curragh Racecourse

The Curragh Racecourse is situated in the largest area of the Curragh Plains, known as Greenlands, in Co. Kildare, Ireland. The first official race meeting at the Curragh took place in 1741 and the racecourse has since become the premier horse racing venue in Ireland. In total, the Curragh stages 10 Group 1 races each year, including the Irish 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas, the Irish Oaks, the Irish Derby and the Irish St. Leger.

 

Course Characteristics

The Curragh consists of a right-handed, undulating, testing horseshoe, two miles in length, with a 3-furlong home straight that is almost all uphill. Races over a mile start on one adjoining chute and races over five, six and seven furlongs start on another. On the straight course horses drawn high hold a slight advantage in large fields.

 

Track Facts

The Curragh is mentioned in the earliest Irish manuscripts as a meeting place of the

Celtic Kings, where horse racing took place alongside other sporting activities.

‘Curragh’ means ‘place of the running horse’.

The first Irish Derby took place at the Curragh in 1866.

The largest one-day attendance at the Curragh was 31,136 for the Irish Derby meeting in 2003.

Unlike the English equivalent, the Irish St. Leger is open to older horses as well as three-year-olds and geldings as well as colts and fillies.

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