The King George V cup will make a return to Leopardstown as a feature race in the Queen’s jubilee year.
The British Embassy in Ireland in partnership with Leopardstown Racecourse, the British Irish Chamber of Commerce and Kmend have announced that feature race at Leopardstown Racecourse on Thursday June 2.
The presentation of a specially commissioned trophy by King George V at Leopardstown during his visit to Ireland in 1911, the one mile four furlong listed race for three-year-olds was first reinstated under the Royal title in 2013 and will be run again this year at 7:20pm on Thursday June 2 for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kirk Bloom was the inaugural winner of the race 111 years ago, with the horse’s owner, Daniel Moloney from Knocklong, Co. Limerick being presented with the Farmer’s Royal Cup by King George V and Queen Mary.
With no further running of the race, the Moloney family kept and maintained the trophy through the generations, aware of its importance and value given the circumstances in which they acquired it.
Therefore, when the King George V Cup was revitalised in 2013 as a re-naming of the listed Nijinsky Stakes, the original trophy was used as a model for a perpetual one to be presented to winners on an annual basis.
“The King George V Cup epitomises the deep and enduring UK-Ireland connections in horse racing and equestrianism” said British Ambassador to Ireland, Paul Johnston.
“The shared passion for horses and racing between Ireland and the UK has been a feature of many Royal visits to Ireland over the years – from King George V’s attendance at Leopardstown in 1911, through Her Majesty The Queen’s visit to the National Stud in 2011 and HRH the Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to Henry de Bromhead’s stables and meeting with Rachael Blackmore this year”.
”It’s wonderful to see the King George V Cup being run again in Leopardstown for the first time since the pandemic, and particularly fitting on the day that the UK begins celebrating Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee.”
