Irish EBF Auction Series To Surpass €6m In Prize Money As All Roads Lead To Tenth Finale at Naas
Naas Racecourse and the Irish European Breeders Fund will celebrate 10 years of the Irish EBF Auction Series and breaking €6,000,000 in prize money when the Finale takes place on Sunday 13th October.
The Irish EBF Auction Series has somewhat revolutionised Flat racing ownership in Ireland over the last decade with trainers and owners at every level being catered for and afforded valuable opportunities with juvenile horses.
The Irish EBF Auction Series Finale will take centre stage on the second day of an action-packed weekend as Naas Racecourse stage a two-day meeting which also features, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Birdcatcher Premier Nursery, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Garnet Stakes, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Bluebell Stakes and three more Irish EBF sponsored races over the two days.
Since the first running of the Irish EBF Auction Series in 2015 the prize money for the series has totalled a mammoth €6,270,500 and each year at least one series race winner was purchased for less than €5,000 at auction with two winners costing just €1,000 in the last three years.
Each of the nine editions of the Irish EBF Auction Series Finale has been won by a different Irish-based trainer and this year’s showpiece features 10 series winners among the 55 entries which currently remain on course for the €120,000 showpiece.
The average auction price of the 55 horses which currently stand their ground for Naas was €24,799 while the cheapest purchase was the Kevin Smith-trained Gangsta Man who was knocked down at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale for just €2,000.
Five of the trainers who have previously won the Irish EBF Auction Series Finale hope to be represented again this year and they include Noel Meade who has left four of his string in the race.
“It’s a great initiative and it's a great bonus to have to be able to come to race those horses that don't cost a fortune in a race, like they're worth that sort of money and up against the horses their own kind, shall we say. And it's a fabulous initiative and long may it last,” Meade said.
“You go to the yearling sales trying to buy horses that will win races. And if you're buying horses that are lesser money, obviously it’s a help to have something like this series in your mind, and to have the races through the year even like without the final at all.
“The other races are fantastic to be able to run in, there's one of these auction races every couple of weeks and it is something that you can always buy cheaper horses and you can say to an owner, look, this horse has all these races he can run in and he can also run in the other ones anyway. And if he's good enough, the sky's the limit”
Meade’s Heishybrid was a Leopardstown winner and has already earned more than his €20,000 purchase price and could be joined by stable companions Ben Hur (€13,000), Rowdy Yeats (€15,000) and Sugar Club (€17,000).
The Joe Murphy-trained Cercene (€50,000) was a course and distance winner at Naas last week when beating Rowdy Years and is on course to return to the Kildare track next month.
“Cercene may be a contender in the Irish EBF Series Finale, but I have two others in it as well,” Murphy said.
“I have Vervain, which is an Acclamation filly, and she will love an ease in the ground and she's probably more of a three-year-old but we love her. She's an improving sort. And we also have Shiota who won here."
“So we're delighted to have three nice fillies in it. And it's a wonderful race to have for the medium-priced horses that you can get a chance in and win a good prize money because if you get good prize money in those sort of races, EBF races and you have individual owners or shareholders, they all come back to purchase again at the following year sales.”
Murphy added: “That's the great thing about it. There's no other game that you could buy a horse for six or seven grand and you could win this sort of prize money, it's like a lottery ticket. And everyone that buys a lottery ticket must feel they have a chance. And the EBF does that.”
A total of 30 different trainers are represented at the early closing stage for the Irish EBF Auction Series Finale and 15 of the remaining entries were purchased last year for €10,000 or less.
Connections of qualified horses will get an early opportunity at a big prize in the €50,000 Irish EBF Auction Series Nursery Handicap at Cork next Tuesday. Entries close for the six-furlong contest tomorrow (Wednesday) with the winner in line to claim €30,000.
Nessa Joyce, Manager Irish EBF said: “It is incredible to be marking two significant milestones this year, ten years of the Irish EBF Auction Series and over €6 million in prize money given out to a large cross section of the industry.
"The concept was conceived by HRI and the Irish EBF board and it was a simple one, give the middle to lower end of the auction market a series of races with excellent prizemoney and a big final at the end of the season, and it worked.
"The statistics and the stories over the last ten years speak volumes on the success of the series, now trainers and owners are sourcing yearlings to target the series and with a good horse you can win significant prize money, increase their value, sell them on or target one of the two finals available to them. It’s a win-win series, that we hope it will continue for another ten years.”
The Naas two-day meeting on 12th and 13th October is part of an Oktoberfest Weekend and further information can be found at naasracecourse.com
