Leopardstown Racecourse is an Irish

horse-racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, 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 sports, as its basic p ...

venue, located in Leopardstown,

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, 8 km south of the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

city centre. Like the majority of Irish courses, it hosts both National Hunt and Flat racing. The course, 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 races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse ...

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

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pilot Hugh Verity, who flew many secret agents at night into and out of farm fields in France, force landed on the Race Course. He was interned briefly before escaping back to England. The ''Leopardstown Hall of Fame'' honours famous Irish horse racing trainers, jockeys and horses like, Vincent O'Brien, Tom Dreaper, Pat Taaffe and

Pat Eddery Patrick James John Eddery (18 March 1952 – 10 November 2015) was an Irish flat racing jockey and trainer. He rode three winners of the Derby and was Champion Jockey on eleven occasions. He rode the winners of 4,632 British flat races, a ...

Arkle Arkle (19 April 1957 – 31 May 1970) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse. A bay gelding by ''Archive'' out of ''Bright Cherry'', he was the grandson of the unbeaten (in 14 races) flat racehorse and prepotent sire Nearco. Arkle was bred by Mar ...

Dawn Run Dawn Run (1978–1986) was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse (Deep Run - Twilight Slave) who was the most successful racemare in the history of National Hunt racing. She won the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 1984 and the Chelt ...

, 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 outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album '' Dare ...

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English 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 since performed with numerou ...

, and The Boomtown Rats have all performed here.

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

A Luas Green Line stop is located 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 in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

References

External links

Official site
{{Horse racing in Ireland Leopardstown Racecourse 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