There are 38 nominations for the 2024 Horse Racing Ireland Awards which will be presented in Dublin in early December.
Three horses that that enjoyed an unbeaten season are among the six nominations for the Horse of the Year Award.
Jumps stars State Man and Teahupoo and the world’s champion Flat stayer Kyprios were the winners of 15 races between them and they are up against the dual Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Galopin Des Champs and top three-year-olds City Of Troy and Porta Fortuna.
Champion jockey Jack Kennedy, champion trainer Willie Mullins, Gavin Cromwell, JJ Slevin and Paul Townend are the five nominees for the National Hunt Award while champions Aidan O’Brien and Colin Keane, along with Dylan Browne McMonagle and Ryan Moore make up the list in the Flat Award category.
The National Hunt Achievement Award boasts seven nominees: BoyleSports Irish Grand National winning trainer Tom Gibney, Grade 1 winners Jimmy Mangan and Martin Brassil, Cheltenham Festival-winner Sam Ewing, multiple Grade 1-winning jockey Danny Mullins, King George VI Chase winner John “Shark” Hanlon and Eric McNamara for his achievements at the Listowel Festival.
Six names have been nominated for the Flat Achievement Award category: Epsom Oaks winning jockey Chris Hayes, Donnacha O’Brien for his handling of Porta Fortuna, Gerry Keane for his repeated success with Crystal Black, White Birch’s trainer John Murphy, Pat O’Donnell for his headline-making with Extensio and Wayne Lordan who bounced back from serious injury to enjoy a fine season that included Group 1 success.
The five nominees for the Point-to-Point Award are David Christie, Shane Cotter, Rob James, Emmet Mullins and Barry O’Neill while going forward for the Emerging Talent Award are five young jockeys: James Ryan, Wayne Hassett, Carl Millar, Alex Harvey and Keithen Kennedy.
Racegoers and racing fans will be asked to help select the winners of the Racecourse of the Year Award and the Ride of the Year Award, and the nominees for those will be announced in the coming weeks.
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.
Suzanne Eade, CEO of Horse Racing Ireland, said: “Irish racing has given us so much to celebrate both at home and abroad over the past 12 months.
“There have been some wonderful stories and achievements and I send my best wishes to all those nominated for our annual awards. I am excited that racing fans and racegoers are being asked to help decide the winner of the Racecourse of the Year Award in addition to the Ride of the Year Award this time.”