Upgrades announced to the National Hunt programme Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) today announced a number of upgrades to the Irish National Hunt Pattern race programme for the 2011/12 NH season. There have been seven races upgraded within the Pattern itself, the most significant being: 1. The War of Attrition Novice Hurdle at the Punchestown Festival, which is promoted from Grade 2 to Grade 1 status to provide a first ever Irish Grade 1 opportunity for novice hurdlers over the distance of 3 miles, having achieved the highest race rating of all the novice hurdles staged last season. 2. The 2¾ mile Florida Pearl Novice Chase, which is upgraded from Grade 3 to Grade 2 status to reflect the high historical quality of this race and to provide a lead in to the Grade 1 Drinmore (2m5f Nov Chase) at Fairyhouse in early December and also the Grade 1 Fort Leney (3m Nov Chase) at Leopardstown over Christmas. 3. The 2 mile New Stand Handicap Hurdle at Fairyhouse’s Winter Festival in December, which is elevated from Grade 3 to Grade 2 to reflect its status as a high value handicap opportunity for the top hurdlers in the first half of the season, with previous winners including Feathard Lady, Solwhit and Thousand Stars.. Announcing the changes, HRI’s Director of Racing Jason Morris commented: “Horse Racing Ireland’s National Hunt Pattern Committee reviews all Black Type races on an annual basis to ensure that they are maintaining the appropriate quality to justify their status. The high ratings being achieved reflects the pre-eminent international position of the Irish National Hunt horse population, as further evidenced by the record breaking 13 wins at last year’s Cheltenham Festival. "Significant improvements have been made to the Irish Pattern over the past few seasons and the changes outlined above will further enhance the well established programme of Black Type opportunities across all race categories and distances. "HRI has set out to enhance the programme for mares’ races within the National Hunt Black Type area in recent years to encourage the retention of high quality mares for racing and then breeding in Ireland. It is therefore particularly pleasing to see the improved ratings achieved by a number of the mares’ races. "Their improved quality has allowed us to upgrade two open mares’ races from Listed to Grade 3 status for the upcoming season, the ITBA EBF Mares Hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival and the John Fowler Memorial Chase at Fairyhouse’s Easter Festival.”
