Curragh chief Brian Kavanagh reports strong ticket sales ahead of Irish Derby weekend

Curragh chief executive Brian Kavanagh reports ticket sales for this weekend's Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby festival are "well ahead of last year for Friday and Saturday", while being "on par" for Sunday when the Classic contest will take centre stage.

Ireland's premier Flat track will host one of the biggest weekends in its calendar when the three-day meeting kicks off on Friday, with the Yulong Pretty Polly Stakes (3.25) on Saturday and the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby (3.40) on Sunday being the highlight Group 1 events. This will be the first year since 2011 that the Irish Derby will be run on a Sunday, having switched to Saturday evenings in 2012. 

Kavanagh said: "I can't wait, we're all really looking forward to it now. The racing looks to be top quality. It's great to have three of the first four from Epsom in the Irish Derby and Dermot Weld’s contender [Knight To King] looks another interesting contender."

Brian Kavanagh: "The racing looks to be top quality"Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

The Curragh chief also expects there may be some formidable challengers crossing the Irish Sea for the Pretty Polly Stakes.

"There are two British runners in the Pretty Polly," he said. "Via Sistina won well at Newmarket for George Boughey and Hughie Morrison has Stay Alert in there."

Crowds for the Curragh's Irish Guineas weekend last month were up 15 per cent compared to last year and the course could be set for another spike in attendances this weekend, with Friday and Saturday's ticket sales already eclipsing figures from 2022, while Sunday's pre-bookings are in keeping with last year, when 11,300 attendees ultimately witnessed Westover and Colin Keane land the Irish Derby on the Saturday.

Kavanagh said: "We are sold out on hospitality for all three days and ticket sales are strong. We are well ahead of last year for Friday and Saturday and on par for Sunday. We put a lot of effort into Friday and there has been a big push in terms of local support.

"We have seven sponsors from Kildare town and have music after racing, which is great. It's fantastic to get the local sponsorship. Great credit must go to Evan Arkwright and we've been working with Kildare Town Derby Festival Committee, who have been very active. We've a fully sponsored card over the weekend and the prize-money is up by €370,000 on last year, so that's a great credit to our sponsors."

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