The Irish Gold Cup (

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

: Corn Óir na hÉireann) is a Grade 1

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

which is open to

horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

aged five years or older. It is run at

Leopardstown Leopardstown () is a suburb of Dublin in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, within the traditional County Dublin, Ireland. Located at the foot of the Dublin Mountains, it is a residential suburb with institutional lands and a large racecourse. It is ...

over a distance of about 3 miles (4,828 metres), and during its running there are seventeen fences to be jumped. The race is scheduled to take place each year in February. The event was first run in 1987, and it was originally titled the Vincent O'Brien Irish Gold Cup. It was named after

Vincent O'Brien 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 Post''. In ...

(1917–2009), who was a successful

racehorse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...

. The race was renamed the Hennessy Gold Cup in 1991, when

Hennessy Jas Hennessy & Co., commonly known simply as Hennessy (), is a French producer of cognac, which has its headquarters in Cognac, France. It is one of the "big four" cognac houses, along with Martell, Courvoisier, and Rémy Martin, who together ma ...

began sponsoring and it was often referred to as the "Irish Hennessy", as there was also a long-established chase in Great Britain called the

Hennessy Gold Cup /Ladbrokes Trophy The Coral Gold Cup is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run ...

. Hennessy's sponsorship ended after the 2015 running and the 2016 event was run as the unsponsored Irish Gold Cup.

Unibet Unibet provides a platform for sports betting, online casino, bingo and online poker to over 11 million customers in over 100 countries. Unibet is a part of Kindred Group–an online gambling operator which consists of 11 brands along with Maria Ca ...

sponsored the Irish Gold Cup from 2017 to 2019. In 2017, it was run as the Stan James Irish Gold Cup Chase and in 2018 and 2019 as the Unibet Irish Gold Cup. Since 2020 the race has been sponsored by

Paddy Power Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company founded in 1988. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK Ireland (UKI) and International. UKI operations ...

. Throughout its history the race has served as a leading trial for the

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs (3 ...

. Three horses have won both events in the same year – Jodami (1993), Imperial Call (1996) and

Sizing John Sizing John (foaled 13 May 2010) is a British-bred, Irish trained thoroughbred racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. He is trained by Jessica Harrington and owned by Ann and Alan Potts, and is best known for winning the Cheltenham Gold ...

(2017).

Records

Most successful horse (4 wins): *

Florida Pearl Florida Pearl (1992-2012) was an Irish-bred race horse who raced in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was owned by Mrs Violet O'Leary and trained by Willie Mullins. His major race successes included the Champion Bumper, Royal & SunAlliance Cha ...

– ''1999, 2000, 2001, 2004'' Leading

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

(4 wins): * Mark Dwyer – ''

Forgive 'n Forget Forgive 'n Forget (1977–1988) was a British-bred racehorse who developed into a top-class steeplechaser. He was held up and invariably travelled comfortably in his races but sometimes lacked fluency at his obstacles. His biggest success came w ...

(1987),

Jodami Jodami (6 April 1985 – 1 December 2008) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist steeplechaser, he ran thirty-nine time and won eighteen races in a career which lasted from March 1990 until February 1997. A ...

(1993,1994,1995)'' Leading trainer (11 wins): *

Willie Mullins William Peter Mullins (born 15 September 1956) is an Irish racehorse trainer and former jockey. Career He commenced racehorse training in 1988 having previously worked as an assistant to his father Paddy Mullins and Jim Bolger. Willie is a fo ...

- ''

(1999,2000,2001,2004), Alexander Banquet (2002),

Rule Supreme Rule Supreme (foaled 28 February 1996) is a retired, Irish Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who competed in National Hunt racing. During a racing career which lasted from May 2001 until December 2009 he won eleven of his forty-six races (inc ...

(2005), Kempes (2011), Quel Esprit (2012),

Sir Des Champs Sir Des Champs (28 May 2006 – 18 May 2018) was a French-bred, Irish-trained AQPS racehorse who competed in National Hunt races. After winning only one of his five races in his native country, Sir Des Champs was transferred to Ireland and wo ...

(2013), Bellshill (2019), Kemboy (2021) ''

Winners

* ''Amateur jockeys indicated by "Mr".''

References

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 6 ...

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pedigreequery.com
– ''Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup – Leopardstown.'' {{Race Meeting, Dublin Racing Festival, Turf National Hunt races in Ireland National Hunt chases Leopardstown Racecourse Recurring sporting events established in 1987

Records

Winners

See also

References