Thurles Racecourse

Thurles is a right-handed, undulating oval of roughly one mile and two furlongs, staging National Hunt racing only. It is a sharp track: the back straight climbs before a sweeping downhill turn drops runners into a short home straight that then rises steadily to a steep uphill finish. The chase course has seven fences per circuit (with a short run-in), the hurdle course six flights. Its standout feature is exceptional drainage, the ground withstands all but the heaviest rainfall, making it a dependable winter venue with very few weather-related abandonments. The configuration tends to suit handy, prominent racers able to use the downhill momentum.

Racing at Thurles dates back centuries: the first recorded meeting was a three-day fixture in June 1732, advertised in the Trinity College Dublin journal "Pue's Occurrences". The course has been owned by the Molony family since the early 1900s and was, for over a century, the only privately owned racecourse in Ireland. In August 2025 the Molonys announced their retirement and the track's immediate closure, citing rising industry costs and new licensing requirements. Horse Racing Ireland took over operations on 28 August 2025; an April 2026 agreement extended racing through at least March 2027, with the next season opening in October 2026.

Thurles is a modest National Hunt course, not a marquee festival venue, running roughly eleven fixtures between October and March. Its highest-profile race is the Kinloch Brae Chase, a Grade 2 steeplechase over about two miles four and a half furlongs, run in late January or early February (first staged 1997). Notable winners include Native Upmanship (three times), Gold Cup hero Don Cossack (2015, 2016), Allaho and Appreciate It. Other listed/Grade 2-3 contests run through the winter, but the card is otherwise routine jumps fare rather than prestige racing.

Thurles Racecourse sits about 1.5 km west of Thurles town in County Tipperary, in Ireland's south-central midlands. Thurles is on the Dublin–Cork rail line, so the course is reachable by train plus a short onward journey, and by road via the M8 motorway corridor. It is a compact, traditional rural jumps track with a long local history, rather than a large modern complex. Following the 2025 ownership change, day-to-day operations are managed under a Horse Racing Ireland arrangement; visitors should check current fixtures and status before travelling, as the longer-term future remains provisional.