Derrinstown

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has announced that the total prize-money for the Gr.2 Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes, which takes place on Longines Irish Champions Weekend at the Curragh on Sunday, September 11th, has been increased from €200,000 to €250,000.

Promoted from Gr.3 to Gr.2 in 2015, this year’s renewal of the Derrinstown Stud Flying Five Stakes will be a weight-for-age contest without any penalties for the first time.

Jason Morris, HRI’s Director of Racing, said, ‘HRI are delighted to be increasing our prize-money contribution towards the Derrinstown Stud Flying Five and we are very grateful to Derrinstown Stud for their enhanced financial support of the race. The higher prize-money of €250,000 brings its value in line with our minimum level for Irish Gr.1 races. This underlines HRI’s commitment to seeing the race secure an upgrade to become our first all age sprint with Gr.1 status. We hope that the enhanced value and the removal of penalties will further improve the quality of the race, after a high class renewal in 2015.’

Stephen Collins, General Manager of Derrinstown Stud, said, ‘Derrinstown Stud are delighted to continue our sponsorship for the third successive year of the Flying Five Stakes and our contribution to increase prize-money is testament to the high calibre of recent winners, including last year’s multiple Gr.1 winner Sole Power. With the rapid evolution of Longines Irish Champions Weekend to one of Europe’s premier fixtures and the quality of runners the race continues to attract, we anticipate the race being upgraded to Gr. 1 status in the not too distant future.’