Horse Racing Ireland Awards to be shown free-to-air on Racing TV

The 2021 Horse Racing Ireland Awards will be broadcast free-to-air on Racing TV on Wednesday 7.45pm.

The 60-minute programme, presented by Marie Crowe and Ruby Walsh, will also be available to view on HRI.ie.

Rachael Blackmore was previously announced as this year’s Irish Racing Hero Award winner and Horse Racing Ireland will present a Contribution to the Industry Award during the show.

Members of the Irish racing media have determined the winners in seven other Award categories while a public vote has decided the winner of the Ride of the Year Award.

Meanwhile, Horse Racing Ireland’s (HRI) racecourse division along with Cork, Galway and Punchestown racecourses on Tuesday announced a partnership with Rewards4Racing to offer a dedicated loyalty programme for Irish racegoers - Rewards4Racing.ie

Now in its eleventh year and with over a million members, Rewards4Racing, the award-winning rewards programme for racegoers in the UK, has proved to be a significant resource in helping its UK racecourse partners attract new racegoers as well as retaining and rewarding existing fans of the sport. In 2019, before the pandemic hit, 960,000 tickets to the races were bought by its members, making up almost one fifth of all attendances at English racetracks.

Rewards4Racing Ireland members will be able to join the programme and collect points initially with Cork, Fairyhouse, Galway, Leopardstown, Navan, Punchestown and Tipperary when they buy general admission tickets or when they engage with the racecourses through their online and on-course promotions. Several other Irish racecourses will be added in the coming months, with the ultimate ambition of having all Irish racecourses onboard with the Rewards4Racing programme.

Furthermore, like the UK version of the programme, members of Rewards4Racing Ireland will be able to boost their balances by collecting points every time they shop with thousands of brands or place a bet with Rewards4Racing’s exclusive betting partners. Members can then spend those valuable points to save money on their next racecourse admission ticket or to win some amazing prizes.

In addition, Rewards4Racing’s 1.2 million UK members will also be able to use their points to go racing in Ireland and attend major festivals such as the Dublin Racing Festival, the BoyleSports Irish Grand National, Cork’s Easter Festival, the Galway Festival, the Punchestown Festival and Longines Irish Champions Weekend.

Paul Dermody, CEO of HRI Racecourses, said: “On behalf of HRI racecourses, I am delighted to launch this partnership with Rewards4Racing today and we look forward to many other Irish racecourses joining the rewards programme in the coming months. I have been impressed for some time with their track record in assisting UK racecourses to drive higher attendances, better engagement and rewarding loyal racegoers. I am confident we can replicate this formula at Irish racecourses and further enhance the experience of racing in Ireland.

"I love the fact that members of the Rewards4Racing programme can generate points with any one of thousands of national and international brand purchases, yet they can only redeem those points against tickets for racing. That has to be attractive to our own racegoers in Ireland and indeed the 1.2 million Rewards4Racing members in the UK, many of whom travel regularly to our marquee Irish racing festivals already.”

Conor O’Neill, Punchestown CEO said: “People make Punchestown and recent times have proven that more than ever. We really look forward to engaging with even more people as we join forces with Rewards4Racing. We are all systems go for the 2022 Punchestown Festival and it is essential that we recognise and reward regular racegoers, those who book early and attract new customers to the home of Irish jump racing. This initiative is an ideal fit and we really look forward to welcoming Rewards4Racing customers to Punchestown soon.”

Michael Moloney, CEO Galway Racecourse said: “This is great news for Irish racing with Galway Racecourse delighted to be part of the initial roll out here in Ireland, with the ultimate aim of having all other Irish racecourses on-board shortly.

"We are hugely passionate about growing our sport, the fan experience here in Galway, driving value for our customers and rewarding them, so this initiative aligns perfectly with our own ambitions. We look forward to some cracking racing and welcoming Rewards4Racing customers to Galway in 2022.”

Rewards4Racing Director and Co-Founder, Josh Apiafi, said: “Since we launched the Rewards4Racing programme in 2011, our mission has been to reward passionate racegoers by working with, and supporting, our racecourse partners, especially when times are tough. So, in conjunction with HRI’s racecourse division, we’re thrilled to be launching the programme with a dedicated platform for Irish racing fans on Rewards4Racing.ie.

"Together with the teams at HRI, Galway and Punchestown, we have worked tirelessly to bring this important partnership to launch. In 2018, HRI announced a growth strategy for Irish racing and one of the elements of this was an industry-leading rewards and loyalty programme for Irish racegoers. I’m delighted that we were successful through the tender process to be the programme of choice and we can’t wait to get underway.”