The crème de la crème of the Irish horse racing world attended the annual Tipperary Crystal Curragh Racing Awards on Monday 21st October. The event was staged in association with Kildare Village who hosted the evening at their L’Officina Restaurant.
Jim Bolger and Kevin Manning were the big winners of the evening as they were awarded the Training and Riding Performance of the Year awards. They teamed up to win three races on the opening day of the season, while their success in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby was one of the major highlights of the flat racing year.
Aidan O’Brien and his son Joseph were crowned the leading trainer and jockey of the season with Aidan responsible for 34 winners, while champion jockey Joseph rode a record 30 winners at the County Kildare venue.
Special Merit Awards were presented to Curragh based trainer Willie McCreery for his magnificent successes with Fiesolana, a winner of 5 races this year including the Group 2 Challenge Stakes at Newmarket recently, while David and Sabina Power accepted a Special Merit Award on behalf of their horse Slade Power, who won two of the Curragh’s top sprint races this year.