The History of The Irish Derby
Flat Racing Festivals and Events
The Irish flat racing season starts in March and runs until late October/ early November.
Major Irish racing flat festivals include:
The Irish Classics meetings which take place at The Curragh Racecourse throughout the Summer and Irish Champions Festival which takes place at Leopardstown and The Curragh on September 13th & 14th.
There are five Irish classics, all of which take place at The Curragh Racecourse. These races include The Irish 2,000 Guineas, The Irish 1,000 Guineas, The Irish Derby, The Irish Oaks and the Irish St Ledger.
Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas Day
The Irish Guineas takes place at The Curragh Racecourse in late May. It is the first Irish Classic of the year and features world class racing and a great social occasion with regular fashion activations and family entertainment.
The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby
The Irish Derby takes place in late June/early July. This three day festival at The Curragh Racecourse features a fantastic lineup of racing, live music after racing each day and a fashion activation on Saturday and Sunday.
The Juddmonte Irish Oaks
Irish Oaks Weekend takes place at The Curragh Racecourse in late July and features two days of exciting racing. Saturday's featured races include the G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks, G2 Barberstown Castle Sapphire Stakes, and the G2 Comer Group International Curragh Cup. Sunday is family day and has lots of family friendly entertainment to compliment the fantastic racing which includes the G2 Romanised Minstrel Stakes, and the G2 Rathbride Stakes.