Leopardstown Racecourse is a

horse-racing Horse racing is an equestrianism, equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all spor ...

course in

Leopardstown Leopardstown (), historically called Ballinlore, is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, at the foot of the Wicklow Mountains. With institutional lands and a large racecourse, it is divided by the M50 motorway (Ireland), M50 motorw ...

, approximately south of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

city centre, in Ireland. Like the majority of Irish courses, it hosts both National Hunt and Flat racing. Built by Captain George Quin and modelled on

Sandown Park Racecourse Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt racing, National Hunt races and one Group One, Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Sta ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, it was completed in 1888 and acquired by the Horse Racing Board of Ireland in 1967. Many important races are held there; racing takes place all year round, with about 22 meetings per year. In 1941,

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

pilot Hugh Verity, who flew many secret agents at night into and out of farm fields in France, force-landed on the racecourse. He was interned briefly before escaping back to England. The Leopardstown Hall of Fame honours famous Irish horse racing trainers, jockeys and horses, including

Vincent O'Brien Michael Vincent O'Brien (9 April 1917 – 1 June 2009) was an Irish race horse trainer from Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland. In 2003 he was voted the greatest influence in horse racing history in a worldwide poll hosted by the ''Racing Pos ...

, Tom Dreaper, Pat Taaffe and Pat Eddery, Arkle, Dawn Run, Levmoss and Nijinsky.

Facilities

Leopardstown golf course and club house is situated in the middle of the racetrack. The course also has designer shops, a fitness centre, the Leopardstown Pavilion, Fillies Café Bar, the Silken Glider Restaurant, the Paddock Food Hall, Club 92 nightclub, Madigans pub, and numerous bars and snack areas. A farmers' market is also on-site every Friday. The "Bulmers Live at Leopardstown" music festival takes place every summer between June and August. Acts such as Horslips,

the Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...

Johnny Marr John Martin Marr (Birth name#Maiden and married names, né Maher; born 31 October 1963) is a musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has sinc ...

, and

the Boomtown Rats The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock/ new wave band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hits including " Like Clockwork", " Rat Trap", " I Don't Like Mondays" and " Banana Republic". T ...

have performed there.

Notable races

The Irish Champion stakes is the most important race at the course and one of the World Series of Racing. It is held every September and attracts the cream of racing thoroughbreds.

Transport

Leopardstown Racecourse was originally served by Foxrock railway station on the Harcourt Street line until it closed in 1958. A

Luas Luas (, Irish language, Irish: ; meaning 'speed') is a tram system in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. There are two main lines: the Green Line (Luas), Green Line, which began operating on 30 June 2004, and the Red Line (Luas), Red Line ...

Green Line stop is located in the top of Carrickmines at the southern end of the racecourse. However, as of January 2016 it remains unopened and devoid of all signage, with trams passing through non-stop. The nearest active Luas stop is

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

References

External links

Official site
{{Horse racing in Ireland

Leopardstown Racecourse Leopardstown Racecourse is a horse-racing course in Leopardstown, approximately south of Dublin city centre, in Ireland. Like the majority of Irish courses, it hosts both National Hunt and Flat racing. Built by Captain George Quin and modell ...

Sports venues in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Sports venues completed in 1888 1888 establishments in Ireland Cross country running venues

Facilities

Notable races

Transport

See also

References

External links