Jockey Olympics at Naas Ireland’s First Jockey Olympics in aid of the GOAL Haiti Appeal will take place at Naas Racecourse on paddypower.com Cheltenham Trial day, Sunday 20th February. During the afternoon three teams of jockeys captained by Barry Geraghty, Paul Carberry and Davy Russell will compete in the Jockey’s Olympics in aid of the GOAL Haiti appeal. MC for the afternoon will be 2fm’s Hector O’hEochagain, while Gerry Loftus of Superstars fame will be the special guest referee. The competition will incorporate four events, a slow bicycle race, an egg & spoons race, a three legged race and the final event will require the contestants’ to test their football skills when they will be required to kick a football through a tyre to score points for their team. GOAL will have a bucket collection on the day to raise fund for Haiti. More than one year on from the earthquake that devastated their country, GOAL is continuing to help the Haitian people to recover from the disaster. After completing a $9 million food distribution contract with the World Food Programme of the United Nations, which enabled the organisation to deliver food rations to almost half a million people, GOAL agreed an $11m contract with the US government, which is seeing them build 2,000 transitional shelters and several hundred latrines and wash blocks. Thousands of local workers are also employed by GOAL on cash-for-work programmes, helping the agency to do critical work such as clearing rubble, unblocking drains and collecting rubbish. Following an outbreak of cholera in Port-au-Prince, GOAL is striving to mitigate and control the disease in 38 temporary settlements under their care, by helping to ensure that the people have access to clean water and sanitation facilities. GOAL CEO, John O’Shea commented: “On behalf of everyone in GOAL, I would like to express my gratitude to Naas Racecourse, Paddy Power, Horse Racing Ireland and all the jockeys who intend to participate in this event to support our relief and rehabilitation efforts in Haiti. We are deeply indebted to you.” On the racing front, the paddypower.com Cheltenham Trial Day is one of the key fixtures in the racing calendar and has produced many Cheltenham and Grade 1 winners over the years including Go Native, Joncol and An Cathaoir Mor. The Naas meeting on the 20th of February is the last recognised Cheltenham Trials Day in Ireland and the 2011 renewal promises to be another outstanding success. Naas Racecourse’s admission offer continues, every racegoer that pays the full admission of €15 will receive a free €5 betting voucher. The betting voucher can be used to bet with the rails bookmakers. Under 18s and current studentcard holders can also avail of free admission. College students are reminded that they must produce a valid student card to obtain free entry. Tom Ryan, Manager of Naas Racecourse said: “We are delighted to be involved with the Jockey Olympics, our Team Captains Barry, Paul & Davy are masters at their own game so I’m looking forward to seeing them adapt their talents for our Olympic challenges. I hope a huge crowd turn out to support GOAL’s efforts and cheer on their favourite team for what should be a very unique raceday. On the racing side, this card last took place in 2009 and four of the winners that day went on to score at Grade 1 level, cementing the meeting’s reputation as a stepping stone to greatness.” The first race off at 1.55pm. The Jockey Olympics will take place in the parade ring into two sessions, after the 2nd race and after the 4th race.
