A total of 40 nominations have been made for the 2021 Horse Racing Ireland Awards which will be presented early next month.
The nominees have been selected across seven categories:
- Horse of the Year
- National Hunt Award
- National Hunt Achievement Award
- Flat Award
- Flat Achievement Award
- Point-to-Point Award
- Emerging Talent Award
The winners will be decided by a ballot of the Irish racing media.
Once again, a public vote will decide the outcome of the 2021 Ride of the Year with the contenders, as chosen by Fran Berry and Davy Russell, to be announced shortly.
Trainers Henry de Bromhead and Willie Mullins and jockeys Paul Townend and Darragh O’Keeffe are the four nominated in the National Hunt Award category.
There are five nominees for the Flat Award:
- Colin Keane
- Jessica Harrington
- Aidan O’Brien
- Johnny Murtagh
- Joseph O’Brien
In the Flat Achievement Award category, there are seven nominees:
- Ado McGuinness for his Group 1 win in the Prix de l’Abbaye;
- Ben Coen who was just 19 years of age when partnering Sonnyboyliston to success in the Irish St Leger;
- Edward Lynam who won the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes with Romantic Proposal;
- Jim and Jackie Bolger for their Classic and Group 1 success with Poetic Flare and Mac Swiney;
- Noel Meade who enjoyed a first Group 1 success with Helvic Dream;
- Paddy Twomey who maintained a fine strike-rate throughout the year
- Rory Cleary whose success on Mac Swiney in the Irish 2,000 Guineas was one of the best-received winners of the season.
The eight nominees for the National Hunt Achievement Award are:
- Dermot McLoughlin for his BoyleSports Irish Grand National success with Freewheelin Dylan;
- Gavin Cromwell for his Grade 1 double at the Cheltenham Festival with Flooring Porter and Vanillier;
- Jack Kennedy for his famous Cheltenham Gold Cup win on Minella Indo at just 21 years of age;
- John “Shark” Hanlon for his Fairyhouse Grade 1 victory with £600 purchase Skyace;
- Peter Fahey for his Cheltenham Festival and Aintree Grade 1 success with Belfast Banter;
- Paul Hennessy who enjoyed Dublin Racing Festival and Cheltenham Festival wins with Heaven Help Us;
- The Flynn Family for their success with Colreevy
- Patrick Mullins who rode four Grade 1 winners and won the Guinness Galway Hurdle for the third time in four years.
The Point-to-Point category is made up of:
- Colin Bowe
- Barry O’Neill
- John Nallen
- Pat Doyle
The nominees for the Emerging Talent Award are:
- Jordan Gainford
- Shane Fitzgerald
- Dylan Browne McMonagle
- Mikey Sheehy
- Sam Ewing
There are seven nominations for Horse of the Year, four from the National Hunt sphere:
- The unbeaten Champion hurdler Honeysuckle
- Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Minella Indo
- Top-rated chaser Chacun Pour Soi
- Dual Grade 1 winner Flooring Porter
The three on the flat are:
- St Mark’s Basilica
- The joint highest-rated horse in the world; Newmarket 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes winner Poetic Flare
- The Epsom, Curragh, and Yorkshire Oaks winner Snowfall.
