Racecourse Guide

Thurles
National Hunt

Thurles, County Tipperary · Ireland’s only privately owned racecourse — racing secured to March 2027

⬤ National Hunt
Turf
Right-Handed
Sharp

Shape

Oval ~1¼ miles

Track Type

Sharp undulating

Fences

7 per circuit, 2 in the straight

Hurdles

6 per circuit

Home Straight

2f off a steep descent

Run-in

1f–1¼f published figures differ

Direction

Right-handed

Course Highlight

Kinloch Brae Chase Gr.2 · late January

Course Overview

What is Thurles like as a jumps track?

Thurles is Irish jumps racing’s great survivor — and its survival is genuinely recent news. Ireland’s only privately owned racecourse, in the Molony family’s hands since the early 1900s (racing here was first recorded in 1732), announced its closure outright in August 2025 when the family retired. Horse Racing Ireland stepped in within the month, racing resumed that October, and after an industry campaign — Willie Mullins prominent in it — the IHRB licensed racing through to March 2027, with the next season starting 8 October 2026. Nothing beyond that date is yet confirmed. Eleven fixtures run October to March, most of them Thursdays.

The track is a right-handed, sharp, undulating oval of about a mile and a quarter — seven fences a circuit with two in the home straight, six hurdle flights, the chase course laid out around the outside of the hurdles track. The shape every rider talks about is the hill: a climbing back straight that Charlie Swan says you must respect “or you’ll struggle to get home.” What happens after it is the one point genuinely in dispute — most descriptions have a fairly steep descent into a two-furlong home straight, while others call the finish itself uphill. This page reports both readings rather than picking one.

Late January brings the Grade 2 Kinloch Brae Chase over 2m4½f and fourteen fences — a race with a habit of naming Gold Cup winners early: Don Cossack (2015, 2016) and Sizing John (2017) both went from Thurles to Cheltenham glory, Allaho won it three times, and Appreciate It took the last two renewals. Mullins has seven wins in it, Paul Townend six. January’s other Grade 2, the Anaglog’s Daughter Mares Novice Chase, honours the 1980 Arkle heroine of that name.

Thurles is a grand track to ride. You have to give your horse a chance coming up the hill in the back straight or you’ll struggle to get home otherwise. The ground at Thurles really is amazing, as it never gets too deep. Even in the worst of the worst weather, they still only go in five or six inches. There can often be some even better ground out a bit wider and that is something worth considering, especially towards the backend of a card when the ground on the inside is chopped up.
Charlie Swan, former champion Irish jump jockey — At The Races

Swan’s ground observation is why Thurles exists in the winter calendar: when everywhere else floods, Thurles usually races. The free-draining turf goes in “five or six inches” at worst, and the course lost very few meetings across the decades — which is precisely why the honest caveat matters. In February 2025 waterlogging did beat the reputation, forcing the Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle to move to Naas. The reputation is real; it is not absolute. His wide-line tip is the more bettable half: on soft ground the inside gets dug up, and better ground sits out wider — especially late on a card.

February 2025 also brought the course’s darkest day. Michael O’Sullivan, a 24-year-old jockey, suffered a fatal fall at the final fence of a handicap chase and died ten days later. The IHRB’s critical-incident review found no evidence of human error, equipment failure or environmental factors as the primary cause, attributing the tragedy to the inherent risks of racing, and made recommendations including a watering system for ground consistency — reported at over €300,000, and still not installed as of the April 2026 licence renewal. The chase course also carries the highest proportion of casualties in Ireland, the last two fences the tricky ones. That is not a betting angle; it is context a course guide owes its readers.

The pace story is measured, and emphatic: front-runners and prominent racers combined have won over 78% of all chases here — the figure appears in two places likely drawing on the same underlying data, so treat it as one strong reading rather than two independent ones. The 2020 snapshot adds detail: front-runners at 17.8% overall, 18.32% and a huge +108.03 in handicap chases, 29% in non-handicaps. Willie Mullins has saddled over 250 winners at Thurles across his career; Townend’s recent strike rates here sit in the mid-forties percent.

The Track

Circuit Right-handed ~1¼-mile oval, sharp and undulating — handy types thrive
Fences 7 per circuit, two in the home straight — the Kinloch Brae’s 2m4½f crosses 14 of them
The hill A climbing back straight — “give your horse a chance… or you’ll struggle to get home” (Swan)
The dispute Most descriptions have a steep descent into a 2f straight; others call the finish uphill — both reported

The Survival Story

1 Aug 2025 The Molony family — owners since the early 1900s — announced closure with immediate effect
28 Aug 2025 HRI stepped in; racing resumed 9 October for the 2025/26 season
17 Apr 2026 IHRB licence extended racing to March 2027; next season opens 8 October 2026
Beyond that No confirmed future yet — Ireland’s only privately owned track runs on short-term agreements

Winter Ground — the Rep and the Caveat

The rep “It never gets too deep… five or six inches” even in the worst weather (Swan) — Thurles races when others flood
Wide line The inside gets dug up on soft ground; better ground often sits wider, especially late on a card
The caveat February 2025 waterlogging moved the Michael Purcell Hurdle to Naas — reliable is not invincible
Watering The IHRB-recommended €300,000+ watering system remained uninstalled as of April 2026

Kinloch Brae & the Arkle Thread

The horse Kinloch Brae shared Arkle’s owner (Anne, Duchess of Westminster) and trainer (Tom Dreaper) — he was not Arkle, and never raced at Thurles
1970 Gold Cup favourite, he led until falling at the third-last
The race Founded 1997 in his name; Grade 2 (briefly Grade 3 in 2017, restored 2018)
Springboard Don Cossack and Sizing John both won it before winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup

Notable Races

When does Thurles race?

Grade 2 · late January

Kinloch Brae Chase

2m4½f and 14 fences under Horse & Jockey Hotel sponsorship. Native Upmanship and Allaho won it three times each; Don Cossack and Sizing John used it as a Gold Cup springboard. Mullins 7 wins, Townend 6.

Grade 2 · January

Anaglog’s Daughter Mares Novice Chase

2m4½f for novice mares, Grade 2 since 2013, honouring the 1980 Arkle heroine — currently carrying Coolmore NH Sires branding.

Grade 3 · Feb–Mar

Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle

2m4f for staying novice hurdlers. The course’s own fixtures page grades it G3, though Grade 2 has been printed elsewhere — and the 2025 running was moved to Naas by waterlogging.

Grade 3 · March

Pierce Molony Memorial Novice Chase

Named for the man who ran Thurles from 1974 to 2015 — the owning family’s name on the race that closes the season’s graded business.

Listed · February

Carey Class Mares Chase

A Listed mares’ chase on the February card — part of a winter programme that quietly carries two Grade 2s, two Grade 3s and Listed contests across its eleven fixtures.

Pace Bias

Seventy-Eight Percent

Thurles’ pace bias is quantified, and it is one of the starkest published for any Irish chase course: front-runners and prominent racers combined have won over 78% of all chases here — a figure that appears in two published places so similar they almost certainly share underlying data, so treat it as one strong reading. The September 2020 snapshot breaks it down: front-runners 17.8% overall with +73.57 profit, 18.32% and +108.03 in handicap chases, 29% in non-handicaps. The mechanism is the back-straight climb: closers spend their finishing effort just reaching the leaders.

Run Style — chases (2020 figures)

Front-runners

▲ 17.8% · +73.57 all chases

Front + prominent

▲ 78% of all chase wins

Mid-division

─ Fighting the hill

Held up

▼ Spent before the straight

Hurdles carry a nuance worth respecting: there is no profitable front-running angle in handicap hurdles specifically — yet front and prominent runners still won 79.64% of non-handicap hurdles. Position wins everywhere at Thurles; it just stops being an automatic profit centre once handicappers have priced it in. And every figure above predates 2020’s date stamp — re-weigh accordingly as fresh seasons accumulate.

Statistics · Since 2010

Which trainers and jockeys win most at Thurles?

Trainer	Runs	Wins	Win%	Places	Place%	A/E	P/L
1 Mullins, W P	547	177	32.36%	320	58.50%	0.86	-73.56
2 Elliott, Gordon	491	99	20.16%	225	45.82%	0.92	-119.88
3 Bromhead, Henry De	318	47	14.78%	126	39.62%	0.75	-64.25
4 O’Brien, Joseph Patrick	125	24	19.20%	59	47.20%	1.02	-0.46
5 Morris, M F	165	21	12.73%	62	37.58%	0.79	-46.98
6 Hogan, Denis Gerard	227	20	8.81%	56	24.67%	1.03	-41.50
7 Harrington, Mrs John	170	20	11.76%	62	36.47%	0.71	-81.61
8 Meade, Noel	136	19	13.97%	47	34.56%	0.70	-50.22
9 Rothwell, P J	375	17	4.53%	68	18.13%	0.64	-250.00
10 Mangan, James Joseph	147	17	11.56%	46	31.29%	1.07	-10.50
11 Byrnes, C	134	15	11.19%	35	26.12%	0.84	-46.82
12 Doyle, Miss Elizabeth	118	14	11.86%	36	30.51%	1.08	+14.31
13 Cromwell, Gavin Patrick	153	13	8.50%	38	24.84%	0.68	-76.32
14 Nolan, Paul	121	13	10.74%	39	32.23%	0.82	-10.37
15 Hanlon, John Joseph	166	12	7.23%	37	22.29%	0.82	-104.48
16 Tyner, Robert	111	11	9.91%	32	28.83%	0.88	-45.75
17 Doyle, Timothy	141	10	7.09%	39	27.66%	0.93	-74.45
18 Winters, Michael	99	10	10.10%	25	25.25%	1.02	-48.06
19 McKiernan, Oliver	96	9	9.38%	29	30.21%	0.92	+24.00
20 Mullins, Ms Margaret	58	9	15.52%	22	37.93%	0.99	-14.02

Thurles NH, since 2010. Willie Mullins has 177 winners from 547 at 32.36% but returns A/E 0.86 and £73.56 down. Joseph Patrick O’Brien is the only yard at fair value (A/E 1.02, essentially level on stakes). Gordon Elliott is £119.88 down at 0.92 and Henry de Bromhead 0.75. Oppose John Patrick Ryan, whose 202 Thurles runners return A/E 0.45 and £164.25 of losses, and P J Rothwell (375, A/E 0.64, £250.00 down). Below the table, Francis J Flood has returned A/E 1.23 from 42 runners and Martin Hassett 1.16 from 43.
thurles NH · Current trainers, since 2010

Jockey	Runs	Wins	Win%	Places	Place%	A/E	P/L
1 Townend, P	294	70	23.81%	137	46.60%	0.81	-80.56
2 Kennedy, J W	189	48	25.40%	92	48.68%	1.11	-27.88
3 Mullins, Mr P W	129	35	27.13%	81	62.79%	0.73	-33.69
4 O’Keeffe, Darragh	199	27	13.57%	66	33.17%	1.08	+112.52
5 Walsh, M P	188	25	13.30%	56	29.79%	0.89	-43.86
6 Flanagan, S W	267	24	8.99%	58	21.72%	0.94	-96.34
7 Enright, P T	447	23	5.15%	94	21.03%	0.60	-263.00
8 Donoghue, K M	137	18	13.14%	36	26.28%	1.08	+2.20
9 Mullins, D E	264	16	6.06%	60	22.73%	0.53	-172.64
10 Slevin, J J	171	15	8.77%	43	25.15%	0.89	-50.11
11 Hayes, Brian	198	13	6.57%	48	24.24%	0.66	-147.04
12 Hogan, D G	116	13	11.21%	27	23.28%	1.26	+23.00
13 O’Keeffe, Sean F	155	12	7.74%	36	23.23%	0.92	+0.33
14 Meyler, D	161	11	6.83%	39	24.22%	0.76	-52.27
15 O’Neill, Mr B	62	11	17.74%	25	40.32%	1.18	+25.45
16 Sexton, K C	105	10	9.52%	26	24.76%	1.01	-45.35
17 Doyle, R A	93	10	10.75%	19	20.43%	1.29	-23.70
18 McGarvey, J S	77	9	11.69%	12	15.58%	1.33	-1.39
19 O’Regan, Denis	95	8	8.42%	26	27.37%	0.75	-57.67
20 King, D	66	7	10.61%	22	33.33%	1.12	-1.00

Thurles NH, since 2010. The figure that stands out is Darragh O’Keeffe — 27 winners from 199 rides at a modest 13.57% but A/E 1.08 and **+£112.52**, comfortably the biggest rider profit on the page, built on long-priced winners. Jack Kennedy is the best combination of strike and value (25.40% from 189, A/E 1.11). Paul Townend leads on winners (70) at only A/E 0.81. Oppose P T Enright, whose 447 Thurles rides return A/E 0.60 and £263.00 of losses, and Danny Mullins (264, A/E 0.53, £172.64 down).
thurles NH · Current riders, since 2010

Sire Statistics · Since 2010

Which sires do best at Thurles?

Sire	Runs	Wins	Win%	Places	Place%	A/E	P/L
1 Beneficial	491	50	10.18%	123	25.05%	0.98	-120.90
2 Flemensfirth (USA)	432	47	10.88%	125	28.94%	0.89	-175.51
3 Oscar (IRE)	387	38	9.82%	109	28.17%	0.86	-127.39
4 Milan	342	34	9.94%	86	25.15%	0.87	-129.48
5 Presenting	364	28	7.69%	92	25.27%	0.69	-240.94
6 King’s Theatre (IRE)	172	26	15.12%	60	34.88%	1.01	+12.69
7 Stowaway	237	23	9.70%	80	33.76%	0.84	-70.66
8 Westerner	269	18	6.69%	74	27.51%	0.57	-184.10
9 Shantou (USA)	156	17	10.90%	47	30.13%	0.87	-69.66
10 Yeats (IRE)	152	17	11.18%	33	21.71%	0.98	-62.29
11 Fame And Glory	131	15	11.45%	40	30.53%	0.96	-58.79
12 Jeremy (USA)	121	15	12.40%	40	33.06%	1.17	-32.00
13 Old Vic	118	15	12.71%	35	29.66%	1.03	-14.60
14 Walk In The Park (IRE)	114	15	13.16%	33	28.95%	0.80	+3.00
15 Getaway (GER)	198	13	6.57%	54	27.27%	0.59	-108.40
16 Mahler	176	13	7.39%	44	25.00%	0.67	-93.67
17 Shirocco (GER)	129	13	10.08%	25	19.38%	1.04	-49.98
18 Bob Back (USA)	106	13	12.26%	36	33.96%	1.03	+24.38
19 Kayf Tara	104	13	12.50%	29	27.88%	0.83	+0.32
20 Dr Massini (IRE)	101	13	12.87%	21	20.79%	1.56	+57.65

Thurles NH, since 2010. No sire of volume beats its price: Beneficial leads the winners at A/E 0.98, Flemensfirth 0.89, Oscar 0.86, Milan 0.87, and Presenting is the heaviest loss at 0.69 for £240.94. Oppose Westerner (269 runners, A/E 0.57, £184.10 down) and Getaway (198, A/E 0.59). The value sits below the table and is worth knowing: Dr Massini has returned +£57.65 from 101 runners at A/E 1.56, Supreme Leader +£38.50 from 59 at 1.74 and Morozov +£51.00 from 46 at 1.57.
thurles NH · Since 2010

How to read these tables. The figures are a first-party pull for this course and code covering runs since 1 January 2010, taken as a snapshot rather than updated live. A/E compares actual wins with the wins implied by starting price, so a figure above 1.00 means the group has won more often than its SP suggested. P/L is profit or loss to £1 win stakes at starting price.

Insider Knowledge

Betting Angles

📍

The front third or nothing in chases

With 78% of chase wins going to front or prominent racers, Thurles is close to a positional filter: if a horse’s style is out the back, its price needs to be enormous. The back-straight climb is where waited-with horses quietly lose their races.

⚖

Handicap hurdles are the exception that proves the rule

There is no profitable blind front-running angle in handicap hurdles — the market prices the bias there — yet prominent types still won nearly 80% of non-handicap hurdles. Keep the positional filter, drop the assumption of automatic value.

🌧

Trust the winter card — with one eye open

Thurles races when other Irish tracks are underwater; the turf famously “never gets too deep.” But February 2025’s waterlogging moved a graded race to Naas, and the IHRB-recommended watering system wasn’t installed as of April 2026 — check the going report, don’t assume it.

⛰

Go wide when it turns soft

Swan’s craft note doubles as a punting angle: the inside line gets chopped up on soft ground and better ground sits wider — especially in the last races on a card. Watch for riders steering off the rail late in the day and upgrade the horses that travel out there.

🏆

Mullins here is a fixture, not a trend

Over 250 career winners at the track, seven Kinloch Braes, and strike rates between 29% and 40% depending on the window you read. Townend’s recent figures sit in the mid-forties. The pair are the Kinloch Brae’s default answer — price, as always, is the only question.

📅

Watch the January form travel to March

The Kinloch Brae has sent Don Cossack and Sizing John straight to Cheltenham Gold Cups — when a top yard routes a staying chaser through Thurles in late January, treat it as festival prep with a fitness edge, not a soft option.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Confusing Thurles with Tipperary Racecourse. County Tipperary holds three tracks and form doesn’t transfer between them — Thurles is right-handed and jumps-only, Tipperary left-handed and dual-code.
Backing a hold-up chaser on hope. Front-runners and prominent racers have combined to win over 78% of Thurles chases, with the climbing back straight punishing horses that get there too late — though the angle stops paying in handicap hurdles.
Treating “never gets bottomless” as a guarantee — a 2025 waterlogging moved a graded race to Naas, and the recommended watering system remained uninstalled as of April 2026.
Crediting an old Kinloch Brae form line at today’s Grade 2 level. The race dropped to Grade 3 in 2017 and was only restored to Grade 2 in 2018 — check what grade it carried the year a horse ran it.

Common Questions

Thurles Racecourse FAQs

Is Thurles Racecourse closing?

It nearly did. The Molony family — owners since the early 1900s, making Thurles Ireland’s only privately owned course — announced immediate closure on 1 August 2025 on their retirement. Horse Racing Ireland stepped in within a month to keep the 2025/26 season running, and in April 2026 the IHRB granted a licence extending racing to March 2027, with the season starting 8 October 2026. Beyond March 2027 nothing is confirmed: the track currently runs on short-term agreements between the family’s company, HRI, the IHRB and the AIR.

What is the biggest race at Thurles?

The Grade 2 Kinloch Brae Chase, run over 2m4½f and fourteen fences each late January under Horse & Jockey Hotel sponsorship. It has a springboard reputation: Don Cossack (2015, 2016) and Sizing John (2017) both won it en route to Cheltenham Gold Cup victories, Allaho took it three times and Appreciate It the last two renewals. Willie Mullins leads with seven wins, Paul Townend with six. January also stages the course’s other Grade 2, the Anaglog’s Daughter Mares Novice Chase.

Is there a pace bias at Thurles?

Emphatically — toward the front. Front-runners and prominent racers combined have won over 78% of all chases at Thurles , with the 2020-dated breakdown showing front-runners at +108.03 in handicap chases alone. The climbing back straight is the mechanism: hold-up horses spend their finish getting into the race. One nuance — in handicap hurdles the angle stops being profitable, though prominent racers still win most non-handicap hurdles.

What kind of track is Thurles?

A right-handed, sharp, undulating oval of about a mile and a quarter, jumping seven fences a circuit (two in the home straight) and six hurdle flights, with the chase course outside the hurdles track. Its defining features are the climbing back straight — riders must give their horses a breather up it — and famously resilient winter ground that “never gets too deep… five or six inches” even in the worst weather (Charlie Swan), though a 2025 waterlogging proved that reputation isn’t absolute. Descriptions genuinely differ on whether the finish itself rises or falls.

Is Thurles the same as Tipperary Racecourse?

No — they are different courses in the same county. County Tipperary holds three tracks: Thurles (right-handed, jumps only, privately owned), Tipperary at Limerick Junction (left-handed, dual-code, HRI-owned, currently closed for its all-weather rebuild until October 2027) and Clonmel at Powerstown Park. Notably, when Tipperary’s fixtures were redistributed for its closure, Thurles received none of them — the two stories running side by side in 2025–27 are a coincidence of timing, not connected events.

Explore

Other Jumps Tracks

Tipperary

The county’s speed track — dark until late 2027.

Clonmel

Powerstown Park — the county’s third course.

Punchestown

Ireland’s jumps HQ and festival finale.

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