The RDS has announced development plans for the Dublin Horse Show with the introduction of a five-year plan geared towards upgrading facilities, improving trade at the show and encouraging the production of more traditionally bred Irish horses.
The Simmonscourt area of the RDS site has been singled out for particular attention following the start of building work last week on the first stage of a €100 million office development.
"Some land has been lost due to the development plans," RDS chief executive Michael Duffy told The Irish Times yesterday, "but we're reconfiguring Simmonscourt itself to allow for that".
Plans include the upgrading of spectator facilities around the Simmonscourt jumping ring and the RDS has also applied for planning permission for a synthetic surface for the arena itself. Work on the refurbishment of the Anglesea Stand in the main arena will coincide with the uptake of office rental. The first of the Simmonscourt blocks is due for completion in mid-2007.
With the Irish Sport Horse Studbook still ranked as the leading producer of event horses, classes for four and five-year-old young event horses have been added to the schedule, with a €20,000 prize fund on offer.
Prize money in the classes that traditionally generate the strongest trade - the three-year-old loose jumping and showing classes and the four-year-old hunter and jumping classes - has also been substantially increased.
The prize fund for the four-year-old jumping championship, which will now be restricted to horses bred in Ireland, has been increased to almost €19,000.