# Kinloch Brae Day at Thurles: The Complete Guide

_The mid-January Sunday at Thurles, headlined by the Grade 2 Kinloch Brae Chase, a proven Gold Cup and Ryanair trial, plus the Anaglog's Daughter and how to attend._

*Source: [https://stablebet.co.uk/irish-racecourses/thurles/kinloch-brae-day-thurles/](https://stablebet.co.uk/irish-racecourses/thurles/kinloch-brae-day-thurles/) · last updated 2026-07-11*

Thurles does not run a multi-day festival. Its season is a string of winter fixtures in Co. Tipperary between October and March, and the day that carries the meeting is the mid-January Sunday headlined by the Kinloch Brae Chase. The Kinloch Brae is a Grade 2 steeplechase run over about two and a half miles (2m4½f, run over 2m4f66y in 2026) with 14 fences to jump. It is the highlight of the Thurles calendar and one of Ireland's most reliable pointers to the spring, having been won by future Cheltenham Gold Cup and Ryanair Chase winners on their way up.

The card matters because Thurles matters at this point of the winter. The free-draining turf rarely loses a meeting even in a hard January, so trainers use it to give their better staying chasers a serious run before the Dublin Racing Festival and Cheltenham. That reliability is why the Kinloch Brae has become a trial worth watching rather than a stand-alone prize.

The same Sunday also stages the Grade 2 Anaglog's Daughter Mares Novice Chase, so the showpiece day carries two Grade 2 contests rather than one. Between them they draw the strongest yards in Irish jumping, with Willie Mullins and Paul Townend the names to beat in recent seasons.

Thurles is a right-handed, undulating oval of about a mile and a quarter with a short uphill run-in, so the racing rewards handy, accurate jumpers with stamina rather than long-striding gallopers. That character shapes the Kinloch Brae as much as the class of the field does.

This guide covers:

- [The Race](#the-race): the grade, distance, conditions and prize money.
- [History](#history): the Kinloch Brae from its 1997 start to today.
- [The Great Winners](#great-winners): the roll of honour and the record holders.
- [Betting Angles](#betting-angles): the descriptive patterns, with the honest caveats.
- [The Race in the Winter Season](#classic-season-context): where the race sits in the trials calendar.
- [Watching and Attending](#watching): how to watch on television and how to visit on the day.
- [Frequently Asked Questions](#faq): the quick answers.

For the full course profile, see the [Thurles Racecourse Complete Guide](/irish-racecourses/thurles/thurles-racecourse-complete-guide/).

## The Race

The Kinloch Brae Chase is a Grade 2 steeplechase for chasers, run at Thurles in late January. Its official distance is about two and a half miles (2m4½f, quoted in some sources as 2m4f118y), and the 2026 running was measured at 2m4f66y. There are 14 fences to be jumped over a circuit and a bit, which on a sharp, undulating track puts a premium on clean, economical jumping. The race is currently run for its sponsor as the Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase, after the well-known local hotel that sits a few minutes from the course.

Grade 2 places the race in the second tier of Ireland's Pattern, below Grade 1 but comfortably inside the black-type contests that attract the leading yards. That status has not been constant. The race was downgraded to Grade 3 in 2017 and then restored to Grade 2 in 2018, and it has held Grade 2 rank since.

Prize money at this level fluctuates year to year with the sponsorship. The 2026 running carried a first prize of about EUR 27,000, which is representative of the recent pot rather than a fixed figure.

The Kinloch Brae sits within the season as a staying-chase trial. Because it comes in mid-January, a few weeks before the Dublin Racing Festival and about seven weeks before Cheltenham, it gives established chasers a competitive outing at a distance and on ground that reads across to the spring targets. That is why it has repeatedly turned up future Gold Cup and Ryanair Chase winners, a point covered in full under the great winners and the winter-season sections below.

The going is the other defining condition. Thurles turf is famously free-draining, so the meeting is rarely lost, but mid-winter still brings testing ground. The 2026 race was run on yielding to soft, and soft-to-heavy going does occur here, which suits horses with stamina for the uphill finish.

| Kinloch Brae Chase | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Grade | Grade 2 steeplechase |
| Distance | About 2m4½f (2m4f66y in 2026) |
| Fences | 14 |
| Month | Late January |
| First run | 1997 |
| 2026 first prize | About EUR 27,000 |
| Course | Thurles, Co. Tipperary |

## History

The Kinloch Brae Chase was first run in 1997, which makes it a relatively modern addition to a course whose own racing history stretches back to a recorded meeting in 1732. The inaugural running went to Merry Gale, trained by Jim Dreaper and ridden by Conor O'Dwyer, and Manhattan Castle followed as the winner in 1998. From those early runnings the race settled into its place as the highlight of the Thurles winter and the contest by which the meeting is known.

Through the 2000s the race built its reputation on the back of genuine top-class chasers using it as a mid-winter target. Native Upmanship gave it its first real dynasty, winning three years running in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and horses such as Newmill, a dual winner, and Hi Cloy kept the roll of honour strong. The pattern that would come to define the race, good staying chasers stopping off at Thurles on their way to bigger days, was established in this period.

The race's status has moved with the wider Irish Pattern. In 2017 it was downgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 3, one of a number of Irish contests reassessed that year, before being restored to Grade 2 in 2018. Since the restoration it has held its second-tier rank and continued to attract the strongest yards.

The modern era belongs to Willie Mullins. His first winner came with Apt Approach in 2012, and from 2020 onward the Closutton stable has dominated, taking the race with Real Steel in 2020 and then repeatedly through the decade. Alongside Mullins, jockey Paul Townend has become the rider most associated with the race in its recent runnings.

The most striking recent chapter is Allaho, who matched Native Upmanship's three-win record by taking the race in 2021, 2022 and 2024 before going on to Ryanair Chase honours at Cheltenham. His runnings confirmed the Kinloch Brae as a proper trial for the best staying two-and-a-half-mile chasers rather than a soft mid-winter prize.

The race now carries the added weight of a course in transition. In August 2025 the Molony family, who had owned Thurles since the early 1900s, announced the course's closure, and Horse Racing Ireland took over its operation later that month to keep the winter programme running through to March 2026. The Kinloch Brae has continued through that change, with Appreciate It landing back-to-back runnings in 2025 and 2026 for Mullins and Townend.

## The Great Winners

The Kinloch Brae Chase punches above its Grade 2 rank because of the quality of horse it has attracted. Its roll of honour includes two future Cheltenham Gold Cup winners and a multiple Ryanair Chase winner, which is why the race is treated as a serious trial rather than a routine winter contest.

Two horses share the record with three wins each. Native Upmanship set the mark first, winning in 2002, 2003 and 2004, a run of dominance that made him a Thurles favourite. Allaho matched it two decades later, taking the race in 2021, 2022 and 2024 for Willie Mullins before adding Ryanair Chase honours at the Cheltenham Festival. That two horses have each managed three wins tells you how much a strong staying chaser can make the Thurles trip a regular winter fixture.

The Gold Cup connection is the race's headline credential. Don Cossack won the Kinloch Brae before landing the 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup, and Sizing John did the same ahead of his 2017 Gold Cup. Allaho's later Ryanair Chase success completes the picture of a race that repeatedly identifies the best staying chasers in training before their spring peak.

Among the trainers, Willie Mullins stands clear. His winners run from Apt Approach in 2012 through Real Steel in 2020, Allaho in 2021, 2022 and 2024, and Appreciate It in 2025 and 2026, a total of seven and counting. That record reflects both the strength of the Closutton string and the way the yard uses Thurles as a mid-January staging post for its better chasers.

In the saddle, Paul Townend has become the rider most tied to the race in its modern runnings, with six wins to his name including Appreciate It in 2026. Earlier chapters belonged to other names, with Conor O'Dwyer aboard the first winner Merry Gale for Jim Dreaper in 1997.

The most recent runnings have been a Mullins procession. Appreciate It landed back-to-back editions in 2025 and 2026 to become the latest dual winner. The 2026 running, on Sunday 18 January, saw him go off the 1/1 favourite and win under Townend from stablemates James Du Berlais, who was second and beaten 12 lengths, and Gentleman De Mee in third, in a five-runner field. The race was completed in 5 minutes 25.10 seconds on yielding to soft ground for a first prize of about EUR 27,000.

| Year | Winner | Trainer | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1997 | Merry Gale | Jim Dreaper | First running, ridden by Conor O'Dwyer |
| 1998 | Manhattan Castle | n/a | Second running |
| 2002 to 2004 | Native Upmanship | n/a | Three wins in a row |
| 2012 | Apt Approach | Willie Mullins | Mullins's first win in the race |
| 2020 | Real Steel | Willie Mullins | n/a |
| 2021, 2022, 2024 | Allaho | Willie Mullins | Three wins, later Ryanair Chase winner |
| 2025, 2026 | Appreciate It | Willie Mullins | Dual winner, ridden by Paul Townend |

Names such as Newmill, a dual winner, and Hi Cloy also feature on the fuller roll of honour, underlining a list that mixes tough course specialists with future championship horses.

## Betting Angles

Before any of the patterns below, the single most important line for this section. Backing favourites loses money to Starting Price over time, at Thurles as at every other course. Everything here is descriptive context about how the Kinloch Brae and the Thurles track tend to play. None of it is a system, and none of it implies a way to bet the race for profit.

**The track shapes the race.** Thurles is a right-handed, undulating oval of about a mile and a quarter with a short uphill run-in of roughly a furlong and a quarter. There are seven fences to a full circuit, a plain fence on the descent to the home turn that can catch horses out, and a rising finish. That layout tends to reward handy, accurate jumpers with stamina, and to make life harder for long-striding types that want a galloping track. Horses well positioned two out, rather than those relying on one big late run, are suited by the sharp shape.

**Going and stamina.** The free-draining turf rarely turns bottomless, which is why the meeting so seldom falls to the weather, but mid-winter still produces testing ground. The 2026 race was run on yielding to soft, and soft-to-heavy going does occur here. On that sort of surface the uphill finish asks a real stamina question over the two-and-a-half-mile trip.

**No draw factor.** As a jumps race there is no draw to weigh, so the usual flat-track draw analysis does not apply. Field sizes in the feature are small, with five runners going to post in 2026, which is typical of a graded chase at this level.

**The yards to note, described not recommended.** Willie Mullins and Paul Townend have an exceptional recent record in the race, as the great winners section sets out, and the strongest Irish yards use the day as a trial. That is a description of who has won, not a tip on who will.

| Descriptive pattern | What the dossier shows |
| --- | --- |
| Track type | Sharp, undulating, uphill finish; suits handy, accurate jumpers with stamina |
| Going in 2026 | Yielding to soft; soft-to-heavy possible in mid-winter |
| Field size | Small graded-chase fields, five runners in 2026 |
| Draw | Not applicable, jumps race |

Treat all of the above as background reading rather than a route to a profit. Betting should be for entertainment, with only money you can afford to lose, and never chased. If it stops being fun, take a break. Help is available in Ireland and the UK through GambleAware and similar services.

## The Race in the Winter Season

The Kinloch Brae's place in the calendar is what gives it weight. Thurles does not stage a multi-day festival. Instead it runs about 11 fixtures spread across the winter, from October to March, mostly on Thursdays with a handful of weekend cards. The mid-January Sunday is the one that headlines the season, and the Kinloch Brae is its centrepiece.

That Sunday is a genuine showpiece rather than a single-race card, because it carries two Grade 2 contests. Alongside the Kinloch Brae runs the Anaglog's Daughter Mares Novice Chase, a Grade 2 novice chase for mares aged five and up over about two and a half miles with 14 fences. It was first run in 2003 as a Listed race, was awarded Grade 3 in 2004 and Grade 2 in 2013, and it honours Anaglog's Daughter, the 1980 Irish and British Arkle winner. It is often the most valuable race on the card, and Willie Mullins has a heavy record in it, with Henry de Bromhead taking the 2025 running with Nara to give owner JP McManus a record fourth win.

The timing is the point. The mid-January date falls a few weeks before the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown in early February and roughly seven weeks before the Cheltenham Festival in March. That makes the Kinloch Brae a natural trial for staying chasers pointing at the Gold Cup or the Ryanair Chase, which is why it has thrown up so many future championship winners. The Anaglog's Daughter serves the same purpose for the best novice chasing mares.

Thurles offers other graded pointers later in its season. The Grade 3 Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle headlines a February card, first run in 2004 and previously a Grade 2 before its 2017 downgrade, with Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott both strong in it. The Grade 3 Pierce Molony Memorial Novice Chase, registered as the Native Upmanship Novice Chase, headlines the early-March fixture. Together these keep Thurles busy as a trials venue right through to the spring.

For punters and racegoers, that context is the useful part. The Kinloch Brae is best read as one stop on the road to the Dublin Racing Festival and Cheltenham, not as an end in itself. For how the race tends to play, see the [betting angles](#betting-angles) above, and for the full course picture see the [Thurles Racecourse Complete Guide](/irish-racecourses/thurles/thurles-racecourse-complete-guide/).

## Watching and Attending

Thurles racing is broadcast on Racing TV, part of the Racecourse Media Group arrangement that covers Irish racecourses, so the Kinloch Brae card is shown there for subscribers. The meeting reached a wider audience once, when Thurles was screened on Britain's free-to-air ITV in 2020 during the pandemic while British racing was postponed, but that was an exception rather than a regular arrangement. Replays and results are available afterwards through Racing TV, the Racing Post, Sporting Life and At The Races or Sky Sports Racing.

On the day itself, the 2026 Kinloch Brae was off at about 15:20 as the feature of the mid-January Sunday card. The meeting is run in mid-January each year, but the exact date moves, so check the official calendar at thurlesraces.ie for the confirmed date before planning a visit. It is also worth noting that Horse Racing Ireland now operates the course, having taken over from the Molony family in August 2025, so arrangements may be updated on the official site.

Getting there is straightforward. The course sits about a mile west of Thurles town and roughly five miles west of the M8 Dublin to Cork road, which puts it fairly central within Ireland. Thurles railway station is on the Dublin to Cork line and is about a mile from the track, with a free minibus shuttle collecting racegoers at the station, and walking is an option too. The nearest major airport is Shannon. There is ample free parking at the racetrack.

Thurles runs a simple single-enclosure model, and admission is bought at the turnstiles on the day rather than pre-booked. Indicative recent prices, which are not confirmed as official 2026 figures, have been around EUR 15 for adults and roughly EUR 7 to EUR 8 for OAPs and students, with children admitted free with an adult. Membership has been offered separately. Confirm the current prices with the course before travelling.

There is no formal dress code. This is winter jump racing, so warm and waterproof clothing is the sensible choice. On-course catering and bars are available, and the Horse & Jockey Hotel, which sponsors the feature chase, is a well-known hospitality base a few minutes away. None of the day depends on having a bet, and if you do have one, keep it for fun and within a budget you are comfortable to lose.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What is the Kinloch Brae Chase?

The Kinloch Brae Chase is a Grade 2 steeplechase run at Thurles Racecourse in Co. Tipperary in late January. It is run over about two and a half miles (2m4½f, measured at 2m4f66y in 2026) with 14 fences, and it is currently sponsored as the Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase. It is the highlight of the Thurles winter calendar and a noted trial for the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Ryanair Chase.

### When is Kinloch Brae Day at Thurles?

The race is run on a Sunday in mid-January. In 2026 it was staged on Sunday 18 January, with the feature off at about 15:20. The exact date moves from year to year, so check the official calendar at thurlesraces.ie for the confirmed date. Horse Racing Ireland now operates the course, so it is worth checking the official site for the latest fixture details.

### What grade is the Kinloch Brae Chase?

It is a Grade 2 steeplechase. It was first run in 1997, downgraded to Grade 3 in 2017, and then restored to Grade 2 in 2018, and it has held Grade 2 rank since.

### Who won the 2026 Kinloch Brae Chase?

The 2026 running was won by Appreciate It, the 1/1 favourite, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Paul Townend. He beat the stablemates James Du Berlais, who was second and 12 lengths back, and Gentleman De Mee in third, in a five-runner field on yielding to soft ground.

### Which horses have won the Kinloch Brae most often?

Two horses share the record with three wins each. Native Upmanship won in 2002, 2003 and 2004, and Allaho matched him in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Appreciate It is the most recent dual winner, taking the race in 2025 and 2026.

### Why is the Kinloch Brae considered a Cheltenham trial?

Because it comes in mid-January, a few weeks before the Dublin Racing Festival and about seven weeks before Cheltenham, it gives leading staying chasers a competitive run before their spring targets. Don Cossack won it before the 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup and Sizing John before the 2017 Gold Cup, while Allaho won it before his Ryanair Chase successes.

### Who is the leading trainer in the race?

Willie Mullins is clearly the leading trainer, with seven wins from Apt Approach in 2012 through Real Steel in 2020, Allaho in 2021, 2022 and 2024, and Appreciate It in 2025 and 2026. Paul Townend is the leading jockey with six wins, including Appreciate It in 2026.

### What else runs on Kinloch Brae Day?

The same mid-January Sunday stages a second Grade 2, the Anaglog's Daughter Mares Novice Chase, a novice chase for mares aged five and up over about two and a half miles. First run in 2003, it was awarded Grade 2 in 2013 and honours Anaglog's Daughter, the 1980 Irish and British Arkle winner. It is often the most valuable race on the card.

### How do I watch or attend the Kinloch Brae?

Thurles racing is shown on Racing TV, with replays also available through the Racing Post, Sporting Life and At The Races or Sky Sports Racing. To attend, admission is bought at the turnstiles on the day. The course is about a mile from Thurles railway station on the Dublin to Cork line, with a free shuttle, and there is ample free parking. There is no dress code, so dress for winter weather.

### Is there a reliable way to bet the Kinloch Brae for profit?

No. Backing favourites loses money to Starting Price over time, at Thurles as everywhere else. Track and form patterns are useful background but none of them is a system for profit. Bet only for entertainment, with money you can afford to lose, and never chase losses.