A Guide to Racing to be lauched at Galway today Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) launched their new racing publication, ‘A Guide to Racing in Ireland’, at the Galway Festival today (Tuesday 27th July 2010). The guide is aimed at those who enjoy the sport of horse racing and would like to know even more about what’s happening out there on the course and behind the scenes of a race day. The guide will bring you through the process of the horse’s journey from the breeding barn to the racecourse, it also explains how organized racing started and developed and what it takes to run it today. Racing is a sport at which Ireland excels; it is also a social occasion without equal and a very special slice of Irish life. With some of the best Jockeys and Trainers in the world, the sport has always been close to our hearts. This publication will take you from the time a foal is born, to jumping out of the starting stalls and explain how much time, work and preparation is involved. The guide holds many interesting facts about horses, for instance all horses born in the Northern Hemisphere become one year old on New Year’s Day each year no matter what date they were born on. Jockeys have a huge part to play in the racing experience, there are many quotes in the book from to Jockeys including AP McCoy, Johnny Murtagh, Ruby Walsh, etc and top Jockeys David Casey and Declan McDonogh take you around the 26 courses in Ireland and give a description of each one. Horse Racing Ireland have also published a ‘Beginners Guide to Racing’ and a ‘Courses for Horses’ – a guide to the 26 racecourses. ‘Racing – The Irish Way’ is a more in-depth and comprehensive for people who would like to know more as well as including some wonderful quotes from racing characters and some beautiful racecourse photography. Tamarisk Doyle, PR Manager, HRI: - “I hope this Guide will give people a chance to increase their knowledge of horse racing, we find that the more information about racing, betting, breeding, a horses anatomy people have, the more they enjoy this wonderful sport of horse racing. There are also many interesting statistics in this free booklet, which will give appreciation of the great traditions and skills which are part of a sport that supports more than 22,000 jobs mainly in rural Ireland.”
