A total of 34 nominations have been made for the 2020
Horse Racing Ireland Awards which will be presented at a virtual awards
ceremony early next month.
Seven category winners will be decided by a ballot of the
Irish racing media – Horse of the Year, National Hunt Award, National Hunt
Achievement Award, Flat Award, Flat Achievement Award, Point-to-Point Award and
the Emerging Talent Award which was presented for the first time last
year.
Once again, a public vote will decide the outcome of the
2020 Ride of the Year winner with the contenders to be announced shortly.
Brian Kavanagh, CEO of Horse Racing Ireland, said: “2020
has been a difficult year for so many but racing can be extremely proud of the
how the industry has faced up to the challenges presented by the Covid-19
pandemic. Despite the challenges of the year, it remains important to honour
the many tremendous achievements that show our industry in such a good light,
both at home and abroad, and I congratulate all those nominated.”
Trainers Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott and Henry De
Bromhead and jockeys Rachael Blackmore and Paul Townend are the five nominated
in the National Hunt Award category. There are also five nominees for the Flat
Award: Ger Lyons, Johnny Murtagh, Aidan O’Brien, Joseph O'Brien and champion
jockey Colin Keane.
There are six nominees for the Flat Achievement Award:
Kieran Cotter for his handling of six-time handicap winner A Step Too Far;
Donnacha O'Brien for his Classic and Group 1 success in his first season as a
trainer; Dermot Weld for his Classic/Group 1 double at ParisLongchamp and the
Curragh in September; Tony Mullins for his success at home and abroad with
Princess Zoe; Emmet McNamara who landed the biggest win of his career in the
Epsom Derby on Serpentine and Seamie Heffernan who cemented his position as one
of the most successful Irish jockeys of all time with a host of top-level
successes in 2020.
The four nominees for the National Hunt Achievement Award
are: Eugene and Maxine O’Sullivan for their win with It Came To Pass at the
Cheltenham Festival; Patrick Mullins who counted Grade 1 winners Sharjah and
Faugheen among his haul as he was crowned champion amateur for a record 12th
time; Charles Byrnes who won the Ladbrokes Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival
for the third year running and Darragh O'Keeffe who set a record of 45 winners
when taking the 2019/2020 conditional jockeys’ championship.
The Point-to-Point category is made up of Colin Bowe,
Barry O’Neill, Mark O’Hare and Rob James while the nominees for the Emerging
Talent Award are all jockeys: Group 1 heroes Joey Sheridan and Shane Crosse;
the champion apprentice for 2020, Gavin Ryan; Dylan Browne McMonagle who has
effortlessly established himself as one of the leading apprentice riders and
conditional jockey Sean O'Keeffe who is riding high in the National Hunt
jockeys’ championship and who rode out his claim when winning the Cork Grand
National on Sunday.
The five nominations for Horse of the Year are
dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Al Boum Photo, his fellow National Hunt stars
Envoi Allen and Honeysuckle, dual Classic winner Love and the multiple Group 1
winner Magical.