About Thurles Racecourse

Thurles Racecourse is a racecourse which is located on the outer edges of the town thurles; county Tipperary, Ireland. This can be found to the East of Limerick and to the Northwest of Waterford. Due to residing close to the middle of these two Irish cities; Thurles Racecourse sees plenty of visitors throughout the season. Thurles Racecourse is one of only a few racecourses in the entirety of Ireland which offers up national hunt racing events only.

Thurles Racecourse is not just one of Ireland’s oldest racecourses; it’s also one of the oldest venues in the entire world. Horse racing has been dating back as far as 1732. This is when the first festival was recorded there which lasted for three days.

The track at Thurles Racecourse is a well respected one too. The total distance of this track is one and a quarter miles long with the run being right handed. There are six flights of hurdles on this track along with seven steeplechase fences in each circuit. The ending to the races here feature a steep uphill finish.

Notable races

Thurles Racecourse is home to a handful of notable races; mainly during the winter months. There’s four notable races in total here at Thurles Racecourse: two in January, one in February, and one in November. Three of these races are chase races while the fourth is a hurdle race. Of these four races there are two which hold more prestige than the others.

The first of those is the Coolmore Mares Novice Chase. A grade two race ran at a distance of two mile four furlongs only for male horses aged five an over. The second of the two is the Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle. Again a grade two race over two miles four furlongs, and for five years or older horses. These two races take place in January and February respectively.