World Pool Moment of the Day returns to Leopardstown
The award will be handed to the groom of the winning World Pool Moment of the Day horse
Friday, 08 September 2023
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The groom of Aidan O'Brien's Luxembourg received the award last year
The 2023 Irish Champions Festival is upon us and the first day of prestigious racing will also include a World Pool Moment of the Day award, writes Tom Masters.
The World Pool Moment of the Day is an award celebrating the most exciting moments at the track on World Pool Days – starting in January on Met Day at Kenilworth, South Africa and ending on Melbourne Cup Day Australia on November 7th.
This year, day one of the Irish Champions Festival at Leopardstown is included as a World Pool day and there will once again be a World Pool Moment of the Day awarded.
The award, which is handed to the groom of the winning World Pool Moment of the Day horse, sees prize money awarded as well as the opportunity to be named World Pool Moment of the Year and win a VIP trip for four to Hong Kong for either the 2024 Hong Kong Derby or 2024 FWD Champions Day.
Luxembourg's trainer Aidan O'Brien spoke of the importance of the stable staff, saying: “You can have the horses but if you don’t have the people it will not happen.
“They are the people who put in the work day in, day out and the people who the horses develop a personality from.
“It is very unusual but if you put a person with a horse, the horse will develop the personality of the person, it takes six weeks for it to happen but it does happen.
“The most important people in racing are the owners and then after that it is the people who look after the horses day in, day out – they are the people that the horses have the connection with, those people have to be looked after to the very best.”
Decided by an industry representative, the member of racing staff from the yard who looks after the horse awarded “World Pool Moment of the Day” will go home with a €4,000 cheque, as well as the opportunity to go to Hong Kong.
Each Moment will be awarded based on the horse’s performance, namely a wide margin winner or a winner from an unlikely position as well as taking into account the human-interest of the winning story.
This year, the two Group 1 races on Saturday come in the form of the Coolmore America "Justify" Matron Stakes and Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes which could see the groom of Dermot Weld’s Tahiyra or Aidan O’Brien’s Auguste Rodin crowned the 2023 Irish Champions Festival World Pool Moment of the Day – something to keep an eye out for!
The World Pool Moment of the Day is an award celebrating the most exciting moments at the track on World Pool Days – starting in January on Met Day at Kenilworth, South Africa and ending on Melbourne Cup Day Australia on November 7th.
This year, day one of the Irish Champions Festival at Leopardstown is included as a World Pool day and there will once again be a World Pool Moment of the Day awarded.
The award, which is handed to the groom of the winning World Pool Moment of the Day horse, sees prize money awarded as well as the opportunity to be named World Pool Moment of the Year and win a VIP trip for four to Hong Kong for either the 2024 Hong Kong Derby or 2024 FWD Champions Day.
Last year the winners were Killian & Derek Hennessy of Ballydoyle, who were awarded “World Pool Moment of the Day” after Luxembourg won the Group 1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes on Day 1 of Irish Champions Festival at Leopardstown, claiming a prize of €1,200.The @WorldPool returns to @LeopardstownRC for EIGHT races this Saturday!
— World Pool (@WorldPool) September 6, 2023
🇮🇪 9 Sep | Irish Champion Stakes Day#WorldPool | 𝐁𝐞𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 | @HRIRacing pic.twitter.com/wrTG6JvCGz
Luxembourg's trainer Aidan O'Brien spoke of the importance of the stable staff, saying: “You can have the horses but if you don’t have the people it will not happen.
“They are the people who put in the work day in, day out and the people who the horses develop a personality from.
“It is very unusual but if you put a person with a horse, the horse will develop the personality of the person, it takes six weeks for it to happen but it does happen.
“The most important people in racing are the owners and then after that it is the people who look after the horses day in, day out – they are the people that the horses have the connection with, those people have to be looked after to the very best.”
Decided by an industry representative, the member of racing staff from the yard who looks after the horse awarded “World Pool Moment of the Day” will go home with a €4,000 cheque, as well as the opportunity to go to Hong Kong.
Each Moment will be awarded based on the horse’s performance, namely a wide margin winner or a winner from an unlikely position as well as taking into account the human-interest of the winning story.
This year, the two Group 1 races on Saturday come in the form of the Coolmore America "Justify" Matron Stakes and Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes which could see the groom of Dermot Weld’s Tahiyra or Aidan O’Brien’s Auguste Rodin crowned the 2023 Irish Champions Festival World Pool Moment of the Day – something to keep an eye out for!