Minding faces stiff competition for Horse of the Year accolade

Coolmore's exceptional filly Minding could add to her Cartier Horse of the Year accolade after being named among seven contenders for Horse Racing Ireland's equivalent award.

The annual HRI ceremony will take place at Leopardstown on Monday, December 5, and the cast eligible for the headline equine category is of the vintage variety.

Minding's Aidan O'Brien-trained Arc-winning stablemate Found and the yard's Breeders' Cup Turf winner Highland Reel have also been nominated.

Dermot Weld’s dual Derby hero Harzand is in the mix, while the brilliant Champion Hurdle-winning mare Annie Power is joined by Douvan from Willie Mullins's elite jumps battalion. Completing the list of nominations is Gordon Elliott's exceptional Gold Cup winner Don Cossack.

The outcome will be decided by a ballot of racing media, as will the National Hunt, Flat and Point-to-point awards.

Mullins, Elliott, Ruby Walsh and Jack Kennedy are the contenders for the jumps category, with O'Brien, Weld, Pat Smullen and Seamie Heffernan named in the Flat division.

Enda Bolger, Jamie Codd, Wilson Dennison, Liz Lalor and Barry O'Neill are the point-to-point hopefuls.

HRI Awards webpage

There are seven categories in all, and both the media and general public – via the HRI website – will decide the winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award, for which Adrian Keatley, David Mullins, John Kiely, Mouse Morris and Kevin Prendergast have all been selected, along with Joseph and Donnacha O'Brien.

"Every year the Horse Racing Ireland Awards give us the opportunity to celebrate the tremendous achievements in the Irish racing industry," said HRI's chief executive Brian Kavanagh.

"The exceptional reputation of Irish racing and breeding is built on the achievements of the hugely talented people we are so lucky to have and I wish all nominees the very best of luck."