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Ireland Handicap Class categories

A

Alex

Amateur Rider
Joined
Feb 23, 2025
Messages
242
Location
Liverpool
In the UK, Handicap's have different classes. I believe it's 2 to 7 for flat racing and 2 to 5 for Jump racing.

In Ireland it seems to be judged by the prize money. Does anyone one no what the structure is, can that prize money be equivalent to a Class 2,3,4,5,6 ? Also is that prize money the same for flat and jump racing ?
 
My understanding is that in Ireland, Handicaps are banded by rating, i.e. 0-70, 0-100 etc and the higher the upper limit, the higher the class and higher value of the winning prize. There is a correlation between the upper limit number and prize money, I don’t know if it is an exact one. It looks like 0-60 on the flat is same prize money as 0-100 over hurdles. If you look at a few races you could confirm this. Frustratingly, I couldn’t easily find this written down on an official site - but maybe I wasn’t looking properly. However, you would think it is information that should be easily found.
 
Good question. 0-95 is about average for a Class 3 in GB so I gauge the Irish ratings along similar lines. Irish handicaps tend to have bigger fields so are probably more competitive and possibly worth rating marginally better than GB equivalents.
 
So is it fair to say that in Ireland, a 0 - 100 over Jumps is equivalent to a 0 - 60 on the flat. And if so, would these be equivalent to class 6 in the UK ?
 
For Ireland yes , though the class 6 horses may be rated less than 55, or even 50 in UK and get a run where in Ireland , though the ballot is random beyond being placed in most recent race, if your horse has a low low rating it is unlikely to get a run. In England with more racing a run for a lowly rated horse is more likely.
 
Thank you Edgt, if it's not too much to ask can you provide me with what the rating would be in Ireland for a 0 - ? , for the equivalent of a Class 5, 4, 3 and 2 in the UK, for both the Jumps and flat.
 
I think I might have solved my issue, I will have a proper look when I get home. But I think a website/app called The Racing App seems to use the same system as the UK I.e Class 2 -7 handicaps for Irish race fixtures.

Thanks for everyone's help 👍.
 
Mr Whatoxo said:
My understanding is that in Ireland, Handicaps are banded by rating, i.e. 0-70, 0-100 etc and the higher the upper limit, the higher the class and higher value of the winning prize. There is a correlation between the upper limit number and prize money, I don’t know if it is an exact one. It looks like 0-60 on the flat is same prize money as 0-100 over hurdles. If you look at a few races you could confirm this. Frustratingly, I couldn’t easily find this written down on an official site - but maybe I wasn’t looking properly. However, you would think it is information that should be easily found.
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I'm not sure if this is true the Paddy Power Chase run at Leopardstown is worth €120K to the winner.It is a 0-150race.I think since its inception it has always been the most valuable or second most valuable handicap chase in Ireland.
 
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