The Irish minister for arts, sport and tourism, John O’Donoghue, has announced a new Racecourse Capital Development Fund which will see Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) match funds raised by Irish racecourses in order to upgrade their facilities and services over the next five years.

Through the new fund, a total of 200m euros will be invested, with HRI providing 110m euros in grant aid and 90m euros being put up by the racecourses.

Launching HRI, O’Donogue said: “To support the growth in popularity of horseracing, we need to provide the very best facilities at all racecourses.”

Provisional allocation of the grant aid has gone to courses including Curragh, Fairyhouse, Galway, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Tralee and Dundalk.

Horseracing is a hugely popular sport in Ireland – more than 1.4 million people attend races each year. Details: www.horseracingireland.ie