It's a massive sporting weekend in Dublin: Ireland v Wales, Dublin v Kerry and the sensational Dublin Racing Festival returns to Leopardstown Racecourse.
It's become one of the highlights of the Irish racing calendar neatly placed between the Leopardstown and Cheltenham meets in December and March.
If you're thinking of heading to this year's festival, there's no better time to immerse yourself in all the action at the Dublin venue.
If you're just going to be watching at home, get ready for an extraordinary weekend of racing.
Here's four reasons why we think this will be one of the best weekends of racing on the Irish calendar this year.
Cheltenham spotting
For racing fans with a serious eye on Cheltenham, the Dublin Racing Festival is a vital meeting to track. We're a mere six weeks from the biggest week of racing on the calendar. However, this weekend at Leopardstown will prove hugely instructive for trying to auger who'll be in the winners enclosure at Cheltenham.
Last year, 15 races at the DRF yielded 10 Cheltenham winners. If you're doing serious scouting for Cheltenham, you need to be paying attention to Leopardstown this weekend.
15 races at the Dublin racing festival.
Yielded 10 Cheltenham festival winners last year.
🏆 🇮🇪— Pete (@RiskForRewards) January 31, 2022
The Big Guns
There is a who's who of horses on show this year at the Dublin venue. The valiant Honeysuckle will be back to win the Irish Champion Hurdle for the third consecutive year, though Willie Mullins' Appreciate It will surely have a say. Saturday's Irish Gold Cup looks especially stacked, with Frodon and Kemboy set for an epic square-off. Chelthenham Gold Cup winner Minella Indo will also be looking to make a statement after pulling up at the King George on St Stephen's Day. You have the likes of Chacun Pour Soi in the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase going for a third-ever win in the race.
Cancel all plans and get to @LeopardstownRC this weekend😍
⭐️Appreciate It
⭐️Chacun Pour Soi
⭐️Frodon
⭐️Greaneteen
⭐️Honeysuckle
⭐️Kemboy
⭐️Mighty Potter
⭐️Minella Indo
⭐️ and Sir Gerhard
are just some of the superstars lining up for #DublinRacingFestival.
Don't miss out! pic.twitter.com/x4w6TMqpgz— Leopardstown RC (@LeopardstownRC) February 1, 2022
Emerging Talent
The Dublin Racing Festival has produced some big names over the years. Horses such as Arkle, Hurricane Fly, Florida Pearl, Moscow Flyer, and Douvan have all won big in the past and this year could see some new names emerge. Trainers such as Henry de Bromhead, Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott, and Paul Nicholls will likely have a mix of runners over the two days. To that end, Sir Gerhard looks like one of the more interesting entrants in the Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle.
Each day this week, courtesy of Ladbrokes, we have 5 tickets to give away for Day 2 of the Dublin Racing Festival!
Just tell us what street Ladbrokes new "shop of the future" is located in Dublin (Clue: the street is also the name of a county in Ireland)
Comment below to enter! pic.twitter.com/tfCxeCr67M— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) January 31, 2022
The Return to Normality
Last year's festival was held behind closed doors and the Leopardstown meet in December also took place without an audience due to the spike in Covid-19 cases over Christmas. Event organisers are expecting a gathering of over 5,000 horseracing fanatics so the atmosphere of a pre-pandemic race meeting will be back. A few events have welcomed back punters over the past few weeks and it's been great to see.
If you have any qualms about missing the Six Nations on Saturday, don't be fretting. Leopardstown will be broadcasting Ireland vs Wales on the big screen on Saturday which starts at 2:15pm. There's no need to get the phone out for a stream, you can follow the game while you're enjoying the racing. For those interested, the later Six Nations game of Scotland vs England will also be broadcast after races finish up on Saturday.
If you can't make it down, there'll be plenty of racing to enjoy on the TV.
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