Wesley Joyce and Liam Burke feature among the 43 Horse Racing Ireland Awards nominees

A total of 43 nominations have been made for the 2023 Horse Racing Ireland Awards with Wesley Joyce's miraculous return to the saddle and Liam Burke riding Teuchters Glory to victory at 66 years of age featuring among the nominations in their respective categories.

The Horse of the Year Award on the Flat will be contested by Dermot Weld's Tahiyra, who landed three Group 1s this season, while Aidan O'Brien is represented by last weekend's Breeders' Cup Turf hero Auguste Rodin and four-time Group 1 winner Paddington.

All nominees in the jumps category are housed in Willie Mullins' Closutton yard as last season's Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs will be up against stablemates Energumene and State Man.

The man who memorably steered Galopin Des Champs to victory at Cheltenham, champion jockey Paul Townend, is nominated for the National Hunt Award along with Mullins and fellow trainers Gordon Elliott and Barry Connell. 

Fresh from being crowned Irish champion jockey for the fifth time, Colin Keane is nominated for the Flat Award with fellow rider Ryan Moore, while trainers Aidan O'Brien and Paddy Twomey are also in contention.

There are five trainers nominated for the National Hunt Achievement Award along with three jockeys. The trainers put forward are Emmet Mullins for his Grade 1 Punchestown festival success courtesy of Feronily, John Kiely due to his handling of prolific bumper horse A Dream To Share, John McConnell for his campaigning of Cheltenham Festival winner Seddon, Martin Brassil for his Grade 1 Punchestown win with Fastorslow, and Henry de Bromhead, who brought the curtain down on the stunning career of Honeysuckle with a fourth Grade 1 Cheltenham Festival win in the Mares' Hurdle.

Henry de Bromhead: shortlisted for the National Hunt Achievement Award for his feats with HoneysuckleCredit: Edward Whitaker

Champion conditional Michael O'Sullivan is also nominated along with Patrick Mullins, who celebrated his 800th career winner in September, and the evergreen Burke, who rode a bumper winner at 66 years of age aboard Teuchters Glory at Limerick in March.

In the Flat Achievement Award category, Joyce's name was put forward for his truly remarkable comeback after suffering terrible injuries in a fall at the 2022 Galway festival. The other nominees include champion apprentice Jamie Powell, Donnacha O'Brien for his handling of Group 1 heroine Porta Fortuna, Fozzy Stack for his breakthrough Grade 1 success in America with Aspen Grove, Adrian Murray who won a first Group 1 with Bucanero Fuerte in the Phoenix Stakes, Ken Condon for his latest top-level win with Moss Tucker in the Flying Five Stakes at the Curragh, and Natalia Lupini for her successful season which was headed by the exciting Kitty Rose.  

The Racecourse of the Year Award will be between Ballinrobe, Leopardstown, Naas and Punchestown. Derek O'Connor, Barry O'Neill, Colin Bowe, Maxine O'Sullivan and Pa King are nominated for the Point-to-Point Award, while jockeys John Gleeson, Danny Gilligan, Ben Harvey, Conor Stone-Walsh and trainer Cian Collins are in contention for the Emerging Talent Award.

Suzanne Eade, CEO of Horse Racing Ireland, said: “Irish racing is blessed to have such a deep pool of talent and I’m not envious of those tasked with picking the nominations for our annual awards. There are some wonderful and uplifting stories among the nominees and I wish everyone the very best of luck.”

The awards will be presented in Dublin in early December.

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