Leopardstown Racecourse

Heading for the start with Wicklow Mountains in background

Leopardstown Racecourse is an Irish horse-racing venue, located in Leopardstown, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, 8km south of the Dublin city centre. Like the majority of Irish courses, it hosts both National Hunt and Flat racing.

The course, built by Captain George Quin and modelled on Sandown Park Racecourse in England, was completed in 1888 and acquired by the Horse Racing Board of Ireland in 1967. Many important races are held here and racing takes place all year round, with about 22 meetings per year.

The Leopardstown Hall of Fame honours famous Irish horse racing trainers, jockeys and horses like, Vincent O'Brien, Tom Dreaper, Pat Taaffe and Pat Eddery, Arkle, Dawn Run, Levmoss and Nijinsky.

Facilities

The stand at Leopardstown

Leopardstown golf course and club house is situated in the middle of the racetrack. The course also has designer shops, a fitness centre, the Leopardstown Pavilion, Fillies Café Bar, the Silken Glider Restaurant, the Paddock Food Hall, Club 92 nightclub, Madigans pub, and numerous bars and snack areas. A farmers market is also on-site every Friday. The 'Bulmers Live at Leopardstown' music festival takes place every summer between June and August. Acts such as Horslips, The Human League, Johnny Marr, and The Boomtown Rats have all performed here.

Notable races

Month	DOW	Race Name	Type	Grade	Distance	Age/Sex
1 !January	Saturday	Killiney Novice Chase	Chase	Grade 3	4225 !2m 3f	5yo +
2 !January	Saturday	Coral.ie Hurdle	Hurdle	Handicap	3219 !2m	4yo +
3 !January	Sunday	Irish Champion Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	3219 !2m	4yo +
4 !January	Sunday	Golden Cygnet Novice Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 2	4023 !2m 4f	5yo +
5 !January	Sunday	Arkle Novice Chase	Chase	Grade 1	3420 !2m 1f	5yo +
6 !February	Sunday	Irish Gold Cup	Chase	Grade 1	4828 !3m	5yo +
7 !February	Sunday	Dr P. J. Moriarty Novice Chase	Chase	Grade 1	4225 !2m 5f	5yo +
8 !February	Sunday	Deloitte Novice Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	3621 !2m 2f	5yo +
9 !February	Sunday	Spring Juvenile Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	3219 !2m	4yo only
10 !March	Sunday	Leopardstown 2,000 Guineas Trial Stakes	Flat	Listed	1609 !1m	3yo only
11 !March	Sunday	Leopardstown 1,000 Guineas Trial Stakes	Flat	Group 3	1408 !7f	3yo only
12 !May	Sunday	Amethyst Stakes	Flat	Group 3	1609 !1m	3yo +
13 !May	Sunday	Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial	Flat	Group 3	2012 !1m 2f	3yo only
14 !May	Sunday	Derrinstown Stud 1,000 Guineas Trial	Flat	Group 3	1609 !1m	3yo only f
15 !June	Friday	Saval Beg Stakes	Flat	Listed	2816 !1m 6f	4yo +
16 !June	Thursday	Ballycorus Stakes	Flat	Group 3	1408 !7f	3yo +
17 !June	Thursday	Ballyogan Stakes	Flat	Group 3	1207 !6f	3yo + f
18 !July	Thursday	Silver Flash Stakes	Flat	Group 3	1408 !7f	2yo only f
19 !July	Thursday	Meld Stakes	Flat	Group 3	1811 !1m 1f	3yo +
20 !July	Thursday	Tyros Stakes	Flat	Group 3	1408 !7f	2yo only
21 !August	Thursday	Ballyroan Stakes	Flat	Group 3	2414 !1m 4f	3yo +
22 !August	Thursday	Desmond Stakes	Flat	Group 3	1609 !1m	3yo +
23 !September	Saturday	Irish Champion Stakes	Flat	Group 1	2012 !1m 2f	3yo +
24 !September	Saturday	Golden Fleece Stakes	Flat	Group 3	1609 !1m	2yo only
25 !September	Saturday	Matron Stakes (Ireland)	Flat	Group 1	1609 !1m	3yo + f
26 !September	Saturday	Kilternan Stakes	Flat	Group 3	2012 !1m 2f	3yo +
27 !October	Saturday	Killavullan Stakes	Flat	Group 3	1408 !7f	2yo only
28 !November	Sunday	Eyrefield Stakes	Flat	Listed	1811 !1m 1f	2yo only
29 !December	Boxing Day	Racing Post Novice Chase	Chase	Grade 1	3420 !2m 1f	4yo +
30 !December	Boxing Day	Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 2	3219 !2m	3yo only
31 !December	27th	Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase	Chase	Grade 1	3420 !2m 1f	5yo +
32 !December	27th	Paddypower.com Future Champions Novice Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	3219 !2m	4yo +
33 !December	28th	Christmas Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	4828 !3m	4yo +
34 !December	28th	Lexus Chase	Chase	Grade 1	4828 !3m	5yo +
35 !December	29th	December Festival Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 1	3219 !2m	4yo +
36 !December	29th	Leopardstown E.B.F. Mares Hurdle	Hurdle	Grade 3	4023 !2m 4f	4yo + m
37 !December	29th	Fort Leney Novice Chase	Chase	Grade 1	4828 !3m	4yo +

The Irish Champion stakes is the most important race at the course and one of the World Series of Racing. It is held every September and attracts the cream of racing thoroughbreds.

Transport

Racecourse

A stop on the Luas Green Line is located at the southern end of the racecourse. However, as of January 2016 it remains unopened and devoid of all signage, with trams passing through non-stop.

Preceding station	Luas			Following station
Ballyogan Wood		Green Line		Carrickmines

See also

• Fairyhouse racecourse
• List of Irish flat horse races
• Phoenix Stakes
• Trial races for the Epsom Derby

External links

• Official site