Curragh boss plays straight bat to Irish St Leger sponsorship queries

Curragh officials had nothing to say on Monday about any sponsorship outlook for the Irish St Leger which for the past decade has been backed by businessman Luke Comer who has been banned from training racehorses for three years after 12 of his string tested positive for anabolic steroids.

Earlier this month the €600,000 Comer Group Irish Leger was the feature race on Day Two of the Irish Champions Festival, this country’s showpiece flat racing event of the year. It was won by the David Egan-ridden Eldar Eldarov.

The Comer Group is one of the biggest property firms in Europe and initially began its Leger sponsorship in 2014 when the race carried the Palmerstown House Estate title to promote the company’s luxury resort near Naas.

Comer’s permit

An initial three-year sponsorship deal has extended through the 10 years of the Champions Festival although it was confirmed on Monday that the current Leger sponsorship is on a “year by year” basis.

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The Comer Group, founded by Luke Comer and his brother Brian, also sponsored July’s Group Two Curragh Cup and last month’s St Leger Trial at HQ.

How the withdrawal of Luke Comer’s licence to train, confirmed by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) last week, affects the billionaire’s long-standing commitment to racing remains to be seen although the controversy has left the sport reeling.

The Monaco-based businessman, who has said he only spends three months of the year in Ireland, is expected to lodge an appeal this week against IHRB penalties that also include fines totaling €85,000 and legal costs to the regulator of more than €750,000.

It is unclear how much the Comer Group puts into race sponsorship although Luke Comer, who insists neither he nor his staff gave prohibited substances to the dozen horses, has claimed he has spent €8 million in sports sponsorships in Ireland over the last five years.

Asked if the controversy might impact on the Leger sponsorship, the Curragh’s chief executive Brian Kavanagh said on Monday: “There’s nothing to say on that at the moment. We will review all our sponsorships at the end of the year for 2024.”

In 2019, the Comer Group took over the provision of insurance for all members of the Irish Jockeys Association (IJA) whose careers have been cut short by injury. The scheme guarantees all IJA members are fully insured should they suffer a career-ending injury.

An IJA spokesman said on Monday the sponsorship is contracted to 2024 and jockeys in Ireland carry the Comer Group logo on their riding breeches.

The Curragh’s immediate focus is on this weekend’s hugely lucrative action which sees both Europe’s richest two-year-old race and its most valuable flat handicap take place.

Saturday’s Goffs Million, confined to horses catalogued at last year’s Orby yearling sale, is worth a minimum of €1 million and could be worth more than that depending on potential contributions from owners after Tuesday’s acceptance stage.

Last year’s Million, won by Galeron, wound up having an extra €234,000 in the pot due to surplus entry fees and sponsorship. It was the first renewal of the confined sales contest since 2009.

The Aidan O’Brien-trained Cherry Blossom, runner-up in York’s Lowther Stakes, is an early 3-1 favourite with some firms to scoop the bumper prize.

Last year marked the inaugural running of the revamped Friends of the Curragh Irish Cesarewitch won in thrilling style by the Wayne Lordan-ridden Waterville. Lordan subsequently landed Horse Racing Ireland’s Ride of the Year Award for his effort.

Cesarewitch

This Sunday’s Cesarewitch is again worth a massive €600,000 although it is confined to horses officially rated 110 and under.

Suggestions that the scale of the prize may have deflected attention from the Irish Leger, which had just four runners earlier this month, have been rejected by Curragh Racecourse chief executive Brian Kavanagh.

“If you look at the St Leger over the last number of years it has been a high-quality race attracting horses generally rated 110 plus. They’re not horses that are going to be in the Cesarewitch. This year we were disappointed with the runners [in the Leger] but there was a combination of factors.

“A couple of UK runners didn’t declare on Friday because they thought the ground would be faster and then we got the rain and it was soft. We were a week closer to York this year than last year. That affected a couple of horses that ran in the Lonsdale Stakes at the Ebor meeting and didn’t come.

“I think the two races, the Leger and the Cesarewitch, sit comfortably side by side,” he said.