Dundalk Stadium
Dundalk Stadium will stage two Fast-Track Qualifiers for the All-Weather Championships for the first time on Friday March 6th. The All-Weather Championships were launched successfully last season by Arena Racing Company (ARC).
As part of the expansion for the second season of the All-Weather Championships, ARC invited three European all-weather courses to run races, which guarantee the winner a place in one of the seven All-Weather Championships finals held at Lingfield Park on Good Friday, April 3rd.
Dundalk stages two Fast-Track Qualifiers on Friday March 6th and the winner of each gains automatic and free qualification for the 10-furlong £200,000 Coral Easter Classic All-Weather Middle Distance and the £150,000 Ladbrokes All-Weather Mile Championships respectively on Good Friday.
Entries close for the two Fast-Track Qualifiers on Monday, March 2. Both are sponsored by BWG Foods, with one over a mile and the other over 10 furlongs and 150 yards. Each will have a total prize fund of €20,000.
Jim Martin, Chief Executive of Dundalk Stadium, said: “We are delighted to be able to stage two qualifying races at Dundalk and to support the All-Weather Championships.It gives the Irish trainers an opportunity to qualify for the £1.1 million finals at Lingfield Park on April 3.”
He continued: “We are creating a special race day around the qualifying races on March 6th with the team from ARC who are making the trip over for the races. We will be entertaining trainers and media on the evening.”
Jim Allen, ARC’s Racing Director, commented: “We are very much looking forward to our visit to Dundalk when the course is staging two Fast-Track Qualifiers for Finals Day.
“We are hoping for a good number of entries and we will be delighted to welcome the Irish winners on Good Friday to Lingfield Park where connections will receive complimentary accommodation in the 4-star Marriott Hotel on site.”
Horses qualify for the seven championship contests on the £1.1-million All-Weather Championships Finals Day by winning a specified “Fast Track Qualifier” or running in a minimum of three races at Britain’s five all-weather tracks, Lingfield Park, Southwell and Wolverhampton, owned by ARC, The Jockey Club’s Kempton Park and Chelmsford City, between October 30 and March 30.
Alternatively, one of the three qualifying runs can come at Dubai’s Meydan Racecourse (dirt) or on the All-Weather surfaces at Ireland’s Dundalk and the French tracks of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Chantilly and Deauville.
