Horse Racing Ireland have confirmed that they will change the times for day one of the Longines Irish Champions Weekend at Leopardstown, to avoid a clash with the All-Ireland senior football final replay.
The opening day of the festival coincides with the replay between Dublin and Kerry and the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes is moved to an earlier time slot.
The changes will also accommodate a Japanese television audience following the exploits of the first ever Japanese-trained runner in Ireland, the Champion Stakes hopeful Deirdre, with the race screened live in Japan.
The action will begin on Saturday at 1.55pm with the Listed Ballylinch Stud EBF Ingabelle Stakes and the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes is now off at 4.15pm.
The second Group 1 on the card, the Coolmore 'Fastnet Rock’ Matron Stakes, moves to 5.25pm and will be the last of five live races on RTÉ television.
Leopardstown CEO Pat Keogh explained: "On a fantastic day of sporting action, we will cater for those who would like to see one of the best race meetings of the year and one of the highlights of the season, as well as the All-Ireland final replay.
"We will be bringing a big screen experience to the football replay and, as we have seen during the Dublin Racing Festival and the Six Nations, there is an incredible atmosphere watching big games on the big screens at Leopardstown.
"The news that Green Channel will show the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes live on their channel is fantastic news for the profile of the race and we’ve been inundated with media requests from Japan which underlines the interest there in their brilliant racemare, Deirdre."
