Curragh Racecourse: The Home of Irish Flat Racing
Last month, on this tour of Irish Racecourses I looked at Fairyhouse racecourse, the home of the Irish Grand National. This month I’m looking at the Curragh. The racecourse where flat racing champions are made.
As before, I will begin by looking briefly at the track’s location, history, configuration before highlighting some significant track stats.
History and Location
Located near Newbridge and Kildare town in the county of Kildare the plains of the Curragh are entwined with the history of horse racing in Ireland.
Indeed, the name “Curragh” comes from the Gaelic word Cuirreach, meaning “place of the running horse”. Not surprising then that the Curragh should be the home of Irish racing.
There is some evidence that plains of the Curragh were being used by Irish Chieftains for horse or chariot racing as early as the third century. However, written records for horse racing in the area date back to only the mid-17th century.
As was the case in England, the restoration of King Charles II to the throne saw the active encouragement of the breeding and training of racehorses. And led to the Curragh Plains becoming a natural home for such activity.
Local records indicate that regular race meetings were taking place on the Curragh in the early 18th Century with the first race meeting held under rules taking place in 1741.
In 1866, the Curragh staged the first running of the Irish Derby, and the British parliament passed the first Curragh Kildare Act in 1868. This Act of Parliament designated 4,857 acres as common pasture and enshrined that horse racing & training could take place in the area.
A major redevelopment of the Curragh grandstand and racecourse facilities began in 2017 which meant a shorter fixture list with some fixtures moved to neighbouring racecourses although racing continued to be held at the course during the redevelopment with temporary facilities in place for the public.
The new Curragh racecourse opened its doors in May 2019 with a new grandstand, parade rings, as well as completely refurbished stable blocks. Ireland’s spiritual home of horse racing now provides world-class facilities and a fantastic experience for all racegoers.
There are many similarities between the Curragh and its English equivalent Newmarket. About 25% of Irish racehorses are trained at the Curragh and there are also a large number of breeding operations in the area, including the Irish National Stud.
The Curragh is not only the headquarters of Irish Racing but is also the venue for all five Irish classics and hosts the second day of Irish Champions Weekend.
For those coming by car the racecourse is located just off the M7, the main Dublin/Cork road. And for those coming by public transport there are regular train services from Dublin’s Heuston Railway Station to Kildare and Newbridge train stations from which racegoers can catch a free shuttle bus to the track.
Track Configuration
The course is a galloping, right-handed horseshoe shaped track and about two miles long, with a straight run-in of three furlongs which is slightly uphill to the winning post.
The racecourse is a fair track, which is ideally suited for galloping types, although it can be deceptive as there is a fair amount of turning on the Derby track and thus a low draw can be a positive.
It’s also worth noting that when racing over distances 1m+ there are two courses.
The majority of races are run on the “new” course but at one meeting last season both courses were in operation.
On the sprint track, when the stalls are on the stand side, a high draw is preferred no matter what the ground is like, as there is a slight camber from the stand side down to the far side, which means the stand side is usually quicker.
When the running rail is moved into the middle of the straight track, the draw isn’t as important but once again a high draw isn’t a negative.
Over the 1m/7f tracks, there don’t seem to be any biases, though horses do tend to come across to the middle and even to the stands side if the ground is soft or heavy.
Curragh Key Stats
Let’s begin by looking at some general stats at the racecourse including clear favourites, winning odds and wins at the track.
The stats below are from Jan 1st, 2015 to the time of writing (07/04/20).
Once again, I am using the ever reliable www.horseracebase.com for all the stats.
The results below contain 704 winners from 8356 runners 2039 placed
Favourites
Clear favourites have produced the following set of results:
207 winners from 643 runners 32% -63.72 A/E 0.92 388 placed.
Breaking those results down into handicap & non-handicap races gives us:
- Non-handicaps – 156 winners from 402 runners 39% -29.53 A/E 0.93 271 placed 67%.
- Handicaps – 51 winners from 241 runners 21% -34.19 A/E 0.88 117 placed 49%.
Summary: Winning favourites for all Irish flat races in the period under research is 32% so the Curragh strike rate is bang on the average so nothing to see here.
General Stats
Odds SP: 12/1 & above
116 winners from 4690 runners 2% -2320 A/E 0.56 562 placed 12%
Summary: Runners sent off 11/1 & under are favoured. Yes, there are big priced winners to be found at the Curragh but as at most tracks the pool is a small one to be fishing in.
Wins at Track: 1+
156 winners from 1383 runners 11% -318.25 A/E 0.85 436 placed 32%
Summary: The Curragh is a fair galloping track so it isn’t really a ‘horses for courses’ track with the 11%-win strike rate for previous course winners being average for Irish flat racecourses.
Trainers to Note
Given the Curragh is Ireland’s premier flat racecourse you would expect that winning races here is tough and so it is, with the winners being spread around the training community.
That being the case it’s not easy to find too many noteworthy trainers stats. However, here are a few angles that are worth highlighting.
Summary: The trainer is 2 winners from 35 runners 5% +10 A/E 0.81 7 placed 20% with runners sent off 15/2 or bigger.
Granted you could have made a profit backing all his qualifiers but the profit is based around a 33/1 winner.
So, the advice would be to concentrate on his qualifiers that are at the front end of the market over this distance range.
Summary: Like Dermot Weld, Aidan O’Brien has done well with his runners over the longer distances at the Curragh, especially his qualifiers from the classic generation.
He’s 4 winners from 16 runners 25% -8.42 A/E 0.74 6 placed 38% with his older horses over the distance range.
Yes, 1 in 4 of such runners win their races but as the A/E stat indicates they offer punters little in the way of value.
Summary: Champion Irish NH trainer Willie Mullins handicappers are always worth a second look given how well he places them.
Summary: Granted a very small sample size and nothing special on the win profit side but the trainer has an exceptionally good place strike rate and if you had backed all his qualifying runners each way you would have made +14.48 points profit.
Next month, I will be looking at Navan racecourse.
Until next time.
John Burke
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