Racecourse Guide

Limerick
National Hunt

Greenmount Park, Patrickswell, County Limerick · on the M20 at exit 4

⬤ National Hunt
Turf
Right-Handed
Galloping

Shape

Oval ~1m3f circuit

Track Type

Galloping undulating

Fences

7 per circuit, 2 ditches

Hurdles

5–6 per circuit

Home Straight

3f rising to the line

Run-in

~1f after the last

Direction

Right-handed

Course Highlight

Faugheen Nov. Chase Gr.1 · 26 Dec

Course Overview

Track Breakdown

Limerick is Irish jumps racing’s Christmas address. Greenmount Park opened in October 2001 — the first purpose-built racecourse in Ireland in fifty years, and the seventh site to host Limerick racing since 1790 — replacing the old Greenpark course that had served the city for 130 years before flooding, traffic and a thin fixture list closed it in 1999. Around eighteen fixtures a year now run across both codes, the jumps programme concentrated from October to April.

The track is a right-handed oval of about a mile and three furlongs, galloping in nature but with real trickery in it: the second half of the back straight climbs steeply, the turn in is taken on a downhill run, and the three-furlong home straight rises gently but continuously all the way to the line. Chasers meet seven fences a circuit — five of them packed down the back in quick succession, two open ditches among them, and the final two in the straight — with a run-in of about a furlong. The hurdles course carries five to six flights a circuit on the inner.

The four-day Christmas Festival from St Stephen’s Day is the flagship, headed by the Grade 1 Faugheen Novice Chase over about 2m3½f — worth €100,000 with €60,000 to the winner — alongside the Grade 2 Dorans Pride Novice Hurdle over three miles and the Grade 2 Dawn Run Mares Novice Chase. October’s Munster National, a €100,000 three-mile handicap chase, is the autumn anchor: Tiger Roll won it in 2016 for Gordon Elliott before his back-to-back Aintree Grand Nationals.

Quite a tricky track to ride. The climb up the back straight is quite testing and horses need to be given a breather up there if they are to get home well. Plenty of riders seem to kick for home too early on the downhill swing into the straight and pay for it up the final rise in the final furlong. In general, the fences are fair, but the second-last can cause problems and to a lesser extent the last.
Charlie Swan, former champion Irish jump jockey — At The Races

Swan’s reading is a race-riding manual for the place: the hill up the back demands a breather, the downhill swing tempts riders into going for home too soon, and the final rise collects the bill. Watch Limerick replays with that shape in mind and the in-running market starts making sense — horses that hit the front on the downhill run are often the ones treading water inside the final furlong.

The pace evidence backs the rider’s eye. Geegeez’s course study found front-runners and prominent racers generated +27.50 in profit across two-mile and two-and-a-half-mile handicap chases and hurdles with eight or more runners, and puts the mechanism plainly: two jumps inside the final three furlongs reward the horses already on the premises. No clean front-runner strike rate is published for the jumps track, so the bias box below shows the shape of the evidence rather than invented precision.

Willie Mullins dominates here as everywhere — a 33% course strike rate, eleven wins in the Faugheen itself, four in the March Grade 3 mares’ novice hurdle — but the value names are local: James Dullea has been the most profitable trainer to follow at Limerick since 2009 in the course study, and Rathkeale’s Eric McNamara has made the Munster National a family business, winning it with Kaselectric (1999), Real Steel (2024) and French Dynamite (2025), the last completing a stable one-two. With Tipperary dark for its all-weather rebuild until late 2027, Limerick also picked up a share of that track’s displaced fixtures.

The Chase Course

Circuit Right-handed oval, ~1m3f, galloping but undulating
Fences 7 per circuit — five in quick succession down the back (two open ditches), two in the straight
Trouble spots The second-last causes problems, and to a lesser extent the last (Swan)
Run-in About a furlong, at the end of a straight that rises all the way

The Hurdles Course

Circuit Inner track — five to six flights per circuit; the 3m Dorans Pride jumps 14 in total
Shape Same climb-then-descent rhythm as the chase track — breathers up the hill are compulsory
Run style Front and prominent racers +27.50 in 2m–2m4f handicaps with 8+ runners (Geegeez)
Why Two jumps inside the final three furlongs reward tactical position

The Christmas Festival

When Four days from St Stephen’s Day — close to 20,000 through the gates
The Grade 1 Faugheen Novice Chase, ~2m3½f, €100,000 — Willie Mullins has won it eleven times
Support acts Dorans Pride Novice Hurdle (Gr.2, 3m) and Dawn Run Mares Novice Chase (Gr.2, 2m6f — moved here from March in 2021)
Rider record Patrick Mullins: Faugheen wins in 2019, 2023 and 2025, all for the family yard

Track & History

Opened October 2001 — Ireland’s first purpose-built course in 50 years, on land bought in 1996
Before it Greenpark (1869–1999) — JFK’s 1963 Limerick reception and John Treacy’s 1979 World Cross Country gold both happened there
Local legend Michael Hourigan — first winner at Greenpark in 1979; Dorans Pride and Beef Or Salmon carried his colours; retired February 2025
Named for a horse The Christmas Gr.2 honours Dorans Pride, six-time Grade 1 winner

Notable Races

The Racing Calendar

Grade 1 · 26 December

Faugheen Novice Chase

The Christmas Festival’s summit — ~2m3½f and €100,000, renamed for the great Faugheen. Willie Mullins has eleven wins; Patrick Mullins rode three of the last seven for the yard.

Premier Handicap · October

Munster National

Three miles and €100,000 in late October. Tiger Roll’s 2016 win preceded his double Grand National; local trainer Eric McNamara has three wins including a 2025 one-two. NB: racecards labelled it “Grade A” to 2022 and “Grade 3” since 2023 — same race, different label eras.

Grade 2 · December

Dorans Pride Novice Hurdle

Three miles and fourteen flights on the Christmas card — a genuine staying-novice test named for Michael Hourigan’s six-time Grade 1 winner.

Grade 2 · December

Dawn Run Mares Novice Chase

2m6f for the mares’ division, honouring the only horse to win both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup. At Christmas since 2021 — older listings still showing March are stale.

Grade 3 · March

Limerick EBF Mares Novice Hurdle

Two miles in the spring — Grade 3 since 2013, and another Willie Mullins stronghold with four wins.

Listed · October

Fergus O’Toole Memorial Novice Hurdle

~2m5f on Munster National weekend — Grade 3 from 2011 to 2015, Listed since 2016. Another label-churn trap for anyone reading old form by grade alone.

Pace Bias

Handy Pays on the Hill Track

The quantified read comes from Geegeez’s course study: front-runners and prominent racers combined for +27.50 in profit in two-mile and two-and-a-half-mile handicaps with eight or more runners, with the final two obstacles packed inside three furlongs doing the tactical damage — closers are asked to make ground exactly where the leaders are jumping for home. Charlie Swan’s rider view completes the picture: the horses that pay are the ones given a breather up the back-straight climb and NOT sent for home on the downhill swing. No public source breaks out a front-runner-specific strike rate for the jumps track, so the bars below show the direction of the evidence rather than invented precision.

Run Style — the front end holds the cards (Geegeez P/L + rider reads)

Front-runners

▲ +27.50 with prominent

Prominent

▲ The paying style

Mid-division

─ Needs a strong pace

Held up

▼ Two jumps in the last 3f

The going moderates everything. On quick ground the shape above is at its sharpest; when Limerick turns soft — and it does, this is a track that has lost winter fixtures to waterlogging — the climb starts pulling leaders back and stamina becomes the entry ticket. The direction of the bias survives, but soft-ground renewals reward the strongest stayer among the handy types, not the slickest traveller.

Statistics · Since 2010

Top Trainers & Jockeys

Trainer	Runs	Wins	Win%	Places	Place%	A/E	P/L
1 Mullins, W P	478	165	34.52%	278	58.16%	0.93	-20.67
2 Elliott, Gordon	697	106	15.21%	259	37.16%	0.77	-206.47
3 Bromhead, Henry De	429	73	17.02%	180	41.96%	0.88	-72.19
4 Byrnes, C	346	59	17.05%	131	37.86%	1.03	+45.93
5 McNamara, E	458	53	11.57%	137	29.91%	1.02	-56.06
6 Nolan, Paul	276	39	14.13%	82	29.71%	0.99	-44.35
7 Walsh, John J	402	33	8.21%	88	21.89%	0.93	-132.75
8 Cromwell, Gavin Patrick	248	32	12.90%	84	33.87%	0.85	-59.68
9 O’Brien, Joseph Patrick	171	29	16.96%	72	42.11%	0.84	-63.27
10 Meade, Noel	166	28	16.87%	60	36.14%	0.98	-30.30
11 Hourigan, Michael	234	27	11.54%	67	28.63%	0.95	-39.87
12 Tyner, Robert	179	26	14.53%	56	31.28%	1.06	-20.82
13 Harrington, Mrs John	163	24	14.72%	56	34.36%	0.81	-60.98
14 Hogan, Denis Gerard	306	23	7.52%	76	24.84%	0.75	-134.65
15 Ryan, John Patrick	269	20	7.43%	59	21.93%	0.88	-118.36
16 McCarthy, Eoin Christopher	190	19	10.00%	51	26.84%	1.14	+45.88
17 Queally, Declan	104	19	18.27%	39	37.50%	1.09	+36.15
18 O’Grady, E J	189	18	9.52%	58	30.69%	0.64	-113.45
19 Hanlon, John Joseph	265	17	6.42%	56	21.13%	0.81	-62.63
20 McDonagh, Michael J	125	16	12.80%	33	26.40%	1.29	+19.27

Limerick NH, since 2010. W P Mullins leads the page on volume (165 wins from 478, 34.5% SR, A/E 0.93). The real value signals are Michael J McDonagh (A/E 1.29, +£19.27). Oppose the over-bet E J O’Grady (A/E 0.64), Denis Gerard Hogan (A/E 0.75) and Gordon Elliott (A/E 0.77).

Jockey	Runs	Wins	Win%	Places	Place%	A/E	P/L
1 Townend, P	234	61	26.07%	112	47.86%	0.95	-35.44
2 Enright, P T	594	48	8.08%	144	24.24%	0.87	-69.89
3 Mullins, D E	300	45	15.00%	95	31.67%	0.95	-63.95
4 Russell, D N	244	45	18.44%	119	48.77%	0.76	-44.89
5 Mullins, Mr P W	108	44	40.74%	77	71.30%	1.03	+19.87
6 Walsh, M P	196	36	18.37%	71	36.22%	0.95	-28.63
7 Flanagan, S W	380	35	9.21%	110	28.95%	0.84	-46.30
8 Walsh, R	122	35	28.69%	65	53.28%	0.93	-5.56
9 Blackmore, Rachael	204	28	13.73%	78	38.24%	0.83	-80.44
10 Cooper, Bryan J	195	28	14.36%	73	37.44%	0.94	-26.48
11 Lynch, A E	243	27	11.11%	75	30.86%	0.84	-76.62
12 Kennedy, J W	147	24	16.33%	57	38.78%	0.77	-22.56
13 Heskin, A P	174	23	13.22%	47	27.01%	1.19	+27.72
14 Sexton, K C	161	21	13.04%	53	32.92%	1.15	-19.50
15 O’Keeffe, Darragh	244	20	8.20%	69	28.28%	0.59	-112.81
16 O’Keeffe, Sean F	187	20	10.70%	52	27.81%	0.85	-75.09
17 Donoghue, K M	178	20	11.24%	50	28.09%	0.73	-80.64
18 Power, R M	145	20	13.79%	56	38.62%	0.88	+22.57
19 Meyler, D	201	18	8.96%	58	28.86%	0.72	-40.56
20 Gainford, Mr J C	117	18	15.38%	35	29.91%	0.93	+17.33

Limerick NH, since 2010. P Townend leads the riders on volume (61 wins from 234, 26.1% SR, A/E 0.95). The real value signals are A P Heskin (A/E 1.19, +£27.72). Oppose the over-bet Darragh O’Keeffe (A/E 0.59), D Meyler (A/E 0.72) and K M Donoghue (A/E 0.73).

Sire Statistics · Since 2010

Top Sires

Sire	Runs	Wins	Win%	Places	Place%	A/E	P/L
1 Flemensfirth (USA)	597	71	11.89%	169	28.31%	0.92	-184.08
2 Beneficial	532	42	7.89%	136	25.56%	0.74	-249.80
3 Presenting	426	38	8.92%	111	26.06%	0.76	-169.86
4 Milan	482	37	7.68%	102	21.16%	0.68	-284.34
5 Westerner	399	33	8.27%	112	28.07%	0.71	-200.94
6 Getaway (GER)	277	32	11.55%	79	28.52%	0.94	-54.93
7 Oscar (IRE)	467	31	6.64%	105	22.48%	0.65	-285.79
8 King’s Theatre (IRE)	246	27	10.98%	69	28.05%	0.81	-84.60
9 Shirocco (GER)	206	24	11.65%	57	27.67%	1.05	-1.42
10 Walk In The Park (IRE)	179	24	13.41%	64	35.75%	0.82	-76.77
11 Vinnie Roe (IRE)	149	21	14.09%	48	32.21%	1.20	-16.89
12 Mahler	331	20	6.04%	74	22.36%	0.64	-166.29
13 Stowaway	270	19	7.04%	68	25.19%	0.59	-123.83
14 Yeats (IRE)	265	19	7.17%	66	24.91%	0.62	-112.50
15 Fame And Glory	172	19	11.05%	48	27.91%	1.00	-44.43
16 Soldier Of Fortune (IRE)	167	18	10.78%	45	26.95%	0.90	-49.34
17 Kayf Tara	133	18	13.53%	38	28.57%	0.92	+16.18
18 Court Cave (IRE)	225	17	7.56%	60	26.67%	0.79	-83.84
19 Old Vic	186	17	9.14%	59	31.72%	0.72	-120.41
20 Gold Well	204	16	7.84%	55	26.96%	0.76	-72.45

Limerick NH, since 2010. Flemensfirth (USA) tops the sire list (71 wins from 597, 11.9% SR, A/E 0.92), though the market prices that in. Oppose the over-bet Stowaway (A/E 0.59), Yeats (IRE) (A/E 0.62) and Mahler (A/E 0.64).

Insider Knowledge

Betting Angles

📍

Ride the front third of the field

Front-runners and prominent racers are +27.50 in the course study’s 8+ runner handicaps at 2m–2m4f, and the layout explains it: two jumps inside the final three furlongs mean closers are chasing horses who are already organised. Position first, class second at Limerick.

⛰

Watch the downhill swing, not the finish line

Swan’s warning is a live in-running angle: riders who kick on the downhill run to the straight routinely get swallowed on the final rise. A horse produced with cover off the descent is worth more than one blazing into the straight two lengths clear.

🌧

Upgrade mud-proven stayers in winter

Limerick winters run yielding-or-softer more often than not, the back-straight hill taxes everything, and the course has had fixtures waterlogged off entirely. When the word is soft or worse, proven stamina in the ground beats fragile speed every time here.

🏆

Mullins wins the features; the value is local

Willie Mullins strikes at 33% here but only 20.8% in handicaps — the market pays for the name. James Dullea has been Limerick’s most profitable trainer to follow since 2009 in the course study, Leslie Young hits 26% in handicaps, and Eric McNamara owns the Munster National with three wins including a 2025 stable one-two.

📅

Treat the Christmas card as Grade 1 form

The Faugheen is a genuine Grade 1 whose winners carry the form forward, and the supporting Grade 2s draw the same stables. Patrick Mullins has three Faugheens since 2019 — when the family yard commits its Christmas novices here rather than Leopardstown, take the hint.

📑

Read races by name — labels and sponsors churn

The Munster National shows as “Grade A” in racecards to 2022 and “Grade 3” from 2023 — same race. The Dorans Pride has carried Guinness, Sky Sports and Lyons of Limerick branding; the Dawn Run moved from March to Christmas in 2021. Old form under old labels is still the same form.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Confusing Limerick with “Limerick Junction.” The Junction track is Tipperary Racecourse — in County Tipperary — which raced under the name Limerick Junction until 1986. Old records branded “Limerick” are often not this course at all.
Trusting grade labels across eras. The Munster National’s racecards read “Grade A” through 2022 and “Grade 3” from 2023; the Fergus O’Toole was Grade 3 before it was Listed. Match races by name and conditions, not the label of the year.
Backing the horse that wins the downhill run. The final rise inside the last furlong is where Limerick races are actually decided — early kickers pay for it (Swan).
Using stale calendar listings — the Dawn Run Mares Novice Chase moved from March to the Christmas Festival in 2021, and general infoboxes still carry the old slot.

Common Questions

Limerick Racecourse FAQs

What is the biggest race at Limerick?

The Grade 1 Faugheen Novice Chase, run over about 2m3½f on St Stephen’s Day as the centrepiece of the four-day Christmas Festival, worth €100,000 with €60,000 to the winner. Willie Mullins has won it eleven times. October’s €100,000 Munster National over three miles is the other headline — Tiger Roll won it in 2016 before his back-to-back Aintree Grand Nationals, and it has been a local benefit lately through Eric McNamara’s three wins.

Is there a pace bias at Limerick over jumps?

Yes — toward the front. Geegeez’s course study has front-runners and prominent racers +27.50 in profit in 8+ runner handicaps at two miles to two and a half, driven by a layout that packs two jumps into the final three furlongs. Charlie Swan’s rider view adds the nuance: the winners are the handy horses given a breather up the back-straight climb, not the ones kicked for home too early on the downhill swing. No front-runner-only strike rate is published, so treat the direction as solid and the precision as unmeasured.

What kind of track is Limerick?

A right-handed, galloping oval of about a mile and three furlongs with genuine undulations: a steep climb in the second half of the back straight, a downhill run to the home turn, and a three-furlong straight rising continuously to the line. Chasers jump seven fences a circuit — five packed down the back including two open ditches, two in the straight — with a run-in of about a furlong. It opened in October 2001 as Ireland’s first purpose-built course in fifty years.

Which trainers dominate Limerick over jumps?

Willie Mullins leads on every measure — a 33% course strike rate, eleven Faugheen Novice Chases and four EBF Mares Novice Hurdles — but his handicap strike rate halves to 20.8%, so the price matters. The course study names James Dullea the most profitable trainer to follow here since 2009, Ted Walsh strikes at 25.9%, and Rathkeale’s Eric McNamara has won three Munster Nationals (1999, 2024, 2025). Patrick Mullins (35.3%) leads the current riders.

Is Limerick Racecourse the same as Limerick Junction?

No — and it is the best naming trap in Irish racing. “Limerick Junction” is the railway station beside Tipperary Racecourse, in County Tipperary, and that course actually raced under the name Limerick Junction until 1986. Today’s Limerick Racecourse is Greenmount Park at Patrickswell, County Limerick, beside the M20 (exit 4) — it opened in 2001, replacing the city’s old Greenpark course (1869–1999).

Explore

Other Jumps Tracks

Tipperary

The Junction track — dark until late 2027 for its all-weather build.

Thurles

Munster’s winter warrior — races when others flood.

Galway

The summer festival’s unique switchback.

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