Roscommon's Big Nights: The Kilbegnet Chase and the Summer Festival

Roscommon stages both codes on turf, and its two black-type races reflect that split: one over fences in autumn, one on the Flat in July.

The Kilbegnet Novice Chase

The Kilbegnet is a Grade 3 National Hunt novice chase, open to horses aged four and older, run over two miles and half a furlong (2 miles 72 yards, 3,284 metres). The 2025 result gave the trip as 2m 147y. It is staged in late September or early October on the last jumps day of the Roscommon season, and it has been a Grade 3 since 2007. The name comes from Kilbegnet, a local County Roscommon place name.

Prize money reached 40,000 euro in total in 2025, with 24,000 euro to the winner. Recent runnings have carried the Ballymore Group Irish EBF title; earlier years ran under a Kilbegnet EBF Novice Chase banner. The chase course itself shapes the race: there are just five relatively easy fences to a circuit, including one open ditch, which makes Roscommon an inviting starting point for inexperienced novice chasers and part of why top yards send promising types here.

The Lenebane Stakes

The Lenebane is Roscommon's premier Flat race, a Listed contest for three-year-olds and up over 1 mile 3 furlongs and 175 yards (2,373 metres), which is about 12 furlongs. Horses that have won a Group 1 or Group 2 are not eligible, which keeps it as a genuine Listed-grade opportunity rather than a soft target for a fallen elite. It is run in July on Ladies Day, the first day of the July meeting. The name derives from Lenabane, the townland in which the course sits.

The race was first run in 2006 and has carried Listed status from the start. It was originally contested over 10 furlongs and was lengthened to 12 furlongs the following year, the trip it has held since. Total prize money has sat around 40,000 euro in recent runnings (24,000 euro to the 2023 winner); the 2017 running was worth 45,001 euro in total, with 26,550 euro to the winner. Recent sponsors include the Irish Stallion Farms EBF and the Watch Racing TV Irish EBF titles.

Both races run on the same compact right-handed oval of about 1 mile 2 furlongs, with a three-and-a-half-furlong home straight that rises to the line.

The two black-type races are recent additions to a much older course. Racing near Roscommon town was first organised by the British military around 1837, officially recognised racing began in 1885, and it has continued ever since apart from a 12-year gap around the Second World War, between 1936 and 1948. The course grew from a single annual meeting to the present nine or ten fixtures, and it lies close to Roscommon Castle, a 13th-century Norman structure on the edge of the town.

The Kilbegnet Novice Chase gives Roscommon its jumps landmark. It was awarded Grade 3 status in 2007, which lifted the track's autumn card to black-type level for the first time. Even before that, a feature novice chase at Roscommon was drawing good horses: the 1994 renewal saw Sound Man beat Shawiya, with the future 1996 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Imperial Call back in third, the run most often cited when people call Roscommon a launchpad. In the years since Grade 3 status arrived, the race has been won by horses who went on to Grade 1 company. The 2018 running is remembered as one of the strongest: Henry de Bromhead's Ornua won it and went on to take the Grade 1 Maghull Novices' Chase at Aintree, while the runner-up, Cadmium, later won the Topham Trophy over the National fences.

The Lenebane Stakes is younger still. It was introduced in 2006 with Listed status, run over 10 furlongs at first and lengthened to 12 furlongs the following year, the trip it has kept. Within a decade it had built a roll of honour full of the leading Irish Flat yards, and it has served as the summer showpiece of Roscommon's Ladies Day since. One of its winners, Panama Hat in 2015, later placed in the American St Leger, keeping the launchpad idea alive on the Flat as well as over jumps.

Neither race pretends to Group depth. Roscommon has no Pattern race, so this pair of black-type contests, one over fences and one on the Flat, is the ceiling of the programme and the reason the summer and autumn cards carry weight.

Between them the two races have drawn most of the big Irish yards. The rolls below list the winners that can be confirmed; where a jockey, trainer or starting price is not recorded, the table shows n/a rather than a guess, and years missing from the Kilbegnet list are ones that could not be confirmed.

The Kilbegnet Novice Chase

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	SP
1998	Nuzum Road Makers	n/a	n/a	n/a
2004	Always	Paul Carberry	n/a	n/a
2006	Ballyagran	Paul Carberry	n/a	n/a
2008	Kalderon	Paul Carberry	n/a	n/a
2010	Save My Blushes	Paul Carberry	n/a	n/a
2012	Moon Dice	Robbie Power	n/a	n/a
2013	Darwins Fox	n/a	Henry de Bromhead	n/a
2016	Ridestan	n/a	Henry de Bromhead	n/a
2018	Ornua	n/a	Henry de Bromhead	n/a
2020	Benruben	Rachael Blackmore	Henry de Bromhead	5/2
2021	Exit Poll	Sean O'Keeffe	Jessica Harrington	85/40
2022	Enniskerry	Michael O'Sullivan	Barry Connell	5/2
2023	Hercule Du Seuil	Mark Walsh	Willie Mullins	2/5f
2024	San Salvador	J.J. Slevin	Joseph O'Brien	13/2
2025	Westport Cove	Paul Townend	Willie Mullins	4/6f

Two names dominate the connections. Paul Carberry is the leading jockey with four wins (Always in 2004, Ballyagran in 2006, Kalderon in 2008 and Save My Blushes in 2010), and Henry de Bromhead is the leading trainer, also with four (Darwins Fox in 2013, Ridestan in 2016, Ornua in 2018 and Benruben in 2020). Willie Mullins has taken the last two runnings shown here, with Hercule Du Seuil in 2023 for owner JP McManus at 2/5, and Westport Cove in 2025, who made all to win by a length and a quarter at 4/6. On the wider Roscommon jumps course, Gordon Elliott has more wins than any other trainer since 2009, though Mullins holds the better strike rate from fewer runners.

The Lenebane Stakes

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	SP
2006	Royal Intrigue	n/a	n/a	n/a
2007	Princess Nala	R.P. Cleary	n/a	n/a
2008	Raydiya	N.G. McCullagh	John Oxx	10/1
2009	Alaivan	Michael Kinane	John Oxx	11/10f
2010	Karasiyra	N.G. McCullagh	John Oxx	4/5f
2011	Quest For Peace	C. O'Donoghue	Aidan O'Brien	3/1
2012	Aklan	B.A. Curtis	John Oxx	12/1
2013	Bunairgead	R.P. Cleary	Jim Bolger	9/2
2014	Einstein's Folly	Kevin Manning	Jim Bolger	8/1
2015	Panama Hat	Chris Hayes	A. Oliver	5/1
2016	Red Stars	D.P. McDonogh	John Oxx	7/1
2017	Flying Fairies	G.F. Carroll	John Oxx	14/1
2018	Kalaxana	Chris Hayes	M. Halford	11/4
2019	Downdraft	D. O'Brien	Joseph O'Brien	6/4f
2020	Pondus	W.M. Lordan	Joseph O'Brien	6/4f
2021	Layfayette	Chris Hayes	Noel Meade	11/4
2022	Beamish	D.P. McDonogh	Paddy Twomey	10/3
2023	Espionage	Ryan Moore	Aidan O'Brien	11/10f
2024	La Isla Mujeres	W.J. Lee	Paddy Twomey	7/2
2025	This Songisforyou	n/a	n/a	n/a

John Oxx is the leading trainer here with six wins (Raydiya, Alaivan, Karasiyra, Aklan, Red Stars and Flying Fairies), and Chris Hayes is the leading jockey with three (Panama Hat in 2015, Kalaxana in 2018 and Layfayette in 2021). Aidan O'Brien has won it twice, Jim Bolger took back-to-back runnings in 2013 and 2014, and Joseph O'Brien did the same in 2019 and 2020. Panama Hat, the 2015 winner, went on to place in the American St Leger.

Roscommon's shape is the first thing to understand before either black-type race. It is a sharp, right-handed oval of about 1 mile 2 furlongs with tight bends and a stiff climb of three and a half furlongs to the winning post. That combination tends to suit handy, speedy, prominent types who can hold a good position rather than horses who need to be delivered late off a strong gallop. There is no strong draw bias, but the sharp turns reward runners who race close to the pace.

Factor	What it tends to favour
Track shape	Handy, prominent, speedy types over hold-up horses
The finish	A climb to the line that tests stamina late
Draw	No strong bias, but prominent racers are helped
Kilbegnet fences	Five easy fences a circuit, kind to inexperienced novices

Over jumps, Roscommon has produced clear yard and jockey patterns. Davy Russell led the jump jockeys across the 2015-16 to 2019-20 seasons with 13 winning rides at a 27 per cent strike rate, and Henry de Bromhead's four Kilbegnet wins mark him out as the trainer to note over fences. On the Flat, John Oxx's six Lenebane wins and the repeat success of Aidan O'Brien, Jim Bolger, Joseph O'Brien and Paddy Twomey show how the strong yards travel for the Listed prize.

These are context, not a system. It is worth being plain about this. Over time, backing favourites loses money to starting price, and the fact that several short-priced horses have won both races, including a run of favourites in the Lenebane, does not make backing them profitable. No angle drawn from track shape, trainer records or draw turns a long-run loss into a profit; the edge sits with the layer. Read the trends to understand how a race is likely to be run, not as a route to beating the market.

If you have a bet, treat it as paid entertainment, set a limit before you start and keep to it. Support and tools are available at BeGambleAware.org.

Roscommon's black-type races sit inside a season built around summer and autumn evening meetings. There are nine or ten fixtures between May and early October, most of them on a Monday or Tuesday night, with typically one afternoon meeting a year. The evening cards are the point: the course and local press describe big, sociable crowds gathering against the midlands countryside while the light holds, and the summer fixtures often sell out.

The Lenebane Stakes is the centrepiece of the July programme. Early July brings a Family Day on the Flat, and about a week later comes Ladies Day, a National Hunt card on which the Lenebane is run as the first race of the July meeting's feature day. Ladies Day is sponsored by SuperValu and carries a best-dressed competition, with 1,200 euro to the overall winner and 100 euro to each of nine runners-up. Dressing up is encouraged, though there is no formal dress code on a standard raceday.

The Kilbegnet Novice Chase closes the other end of the calendar. It is run on the final jumps day of the season in late September or early October, which gives the autumn card its shape in the same way Ladies Day defines July. Around these two black-type races the supporting programme mixes maiden and handicap hurdles and chases, Flat maidens and handicaps, and amateur and pro-am flat races. The Connacht National, a handicap chase over about 3 miles 1 furlong, is another of the season's staying features; the 2025 running was won in 6 minutes 25.10 seconds.

For visitors the appeal is the whole evening rather than one race. The bars stay busy, live music and post-race dancing follow the card on many nights, and the central location draws racegoers from Athlone, Longford, Galway and Sligo. The Roscommon Racecourse complete guide covers the full fixture pattern, and the launchpad champions spoke follows the horses that used these summer and autumn cards as a first step.

Roscommon racing is broadcast on Racing TV, the course's media partner. If you cannot get to the track for Ladies Day in July or the final jumps card in autumn, that is where to find both black-type races, either through a Racing TV subscription or via the streaming that bookmaker platforms offer to account holders. There is no free-to-air coverage of Roscommon's cards.

Getting there is straightforward. The course is on Racecourse Road at Carrownabrickna, just minutes from Roscommon town centre on the Castlebar road, Eircode F42 V052. Roscommon town sits on the Dublin Heuston to Westport rail line, and the station is a short taxi ride from the course. By road it is about 30 kilometres from Athlone on the N61, roughly 77 kilometres from Galway and around 145 kilometres from Dublin. Free car parking is available at every meeting, and both Galway Airport and Ireland West Airport Knock are about an hour away.

On admission, standard entry is 15 euro for adults and 10 euro for students and OAPs, and tickets bought online in advance carry a 10 per cent saving. The Ros Special package, around 30 to 40 euro, adds a two-course meal, a racecard and a 10 euro betting voucher to one adult admission. Facilities include three bars and hospitality areas, on-course bookmakers and the Tote, free wifi and, on many evenings, live music after racing.

Both feature races reward getting there early. The Lenebane opens Ladies Day, so arriving in good time means catching the best-dressed judging and the Listed contest before the rest of the card. The Kilbegnet closes the jumps season on its day. If you do have a bet, keep it to what you set out to spend and treat it as part of the night out rather than a way to make the evening pay.