Galopin Des Champs and Auguste Rodin on collision course for Horse of the Year award
FINISHING ON A HIGH: Auguste Rodin ends his season in style by winning the Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita last weekend. Picture: Healy Racing
The nominees for the 2023 HRI Awards were announced on Wednesday evening and, with the abundance of talent in our Flat and National Hunt spheres right now, seldom were the categories so keenly contested.
The Horse of the Year Award is the prime example, with dual-Classic and four-time Group 1 winner Paddington, three-time Group 1, including the Irish 1000 Guineas, winner Tahiyra, four-time Grade One winner State Man and his stablemate, Champion Chase hero Energumene all worthy of deepest consideration. But can their achievements, considerable as they are, match up to those of Galopin Des Champs and Auguste Rodin?
The former claimed Cheltenham Gold Cup success with a devastating display, while the latter won the Epsom Derby, Irish Derby, Irish Champion Stakes and wrapped up a remarkable season, which wasn’t without its disappointments, by winning the Breeders' Cup Turf.
Being responsible for all three National Hunt horses shortlisted for the Horse of the Year Award, it is little surprise Willie Mullins and his stable jockey, Paul Townend, have been shortlisted for the National Hunt Award. Trainer Barry Connell, who had a breakthrough season, highlighted by Marine Nationale’s Supreme Novices' Hurdle victory, joins them, as does Gordon Elliott.
Trainer Paddy Twomey, whose stock is firmly on the rise, joins Aidan O’Brien, Ryan Moore, and five-time Irish champion jockey Colin Keane on the shortlist for the Flat Award.
Having eight nominees, the National Hunt Achievement Award further emphasises the success of the season past, and octogenarian John Kiely, who saddled his first Cheltenham Festival winner, sexagenarian Liam Burke, who rode a bumper winner at 66 years of age, and tricenarian Patrick Mullins, who rode his 800th winner, are among the nominees.
The Flat Achievement Award has been pared down to seven, including Wesley Joyce, who has shown remarkable fortitude and determination to get back in the saddle following an horrific fall in 2022. Rising star of the saddle Jamie Powell is also on the shortlist, as is Natalia Lupini, who, this season, has made significant strides in her training career.
The Racecourse of the Year shortlist was generated from the results of an industry survey taken earlier this year and the ever-popular Ballinrobe, Leopardstown, Naas, and Punchestown made the cut.
Maxine O’Sullivan, Derek O’Connor, Barry O’Neill, Pa King and Colin Bowe have been nominated for the Point To Point Award, while young riders John Gleeson, Danny Gilligan, Ben Harvey and Conor Stone-Walsh join trainer Cian Collins on the shortlist for the Emerging Talent Award.
The awards will be presented in early December in Dublin.
