Thurles racecourse announced on Friday that it would be closing with immediate effect ahead of their first scheduled meeting of the 2025/26 Irish jumps season. The track had been slated to host 11 racedays in 2025/26, but will not host any as the course shuts its doors.
The last meeting held at the County Tipperary venue occurred on the 15th March with Tim Toe the winner of the concluding bumper. Throughout last season, Thurles hosted three Graded contests, including the Grade 2 Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase which was won twice by Allaho en route to Ryanair Chase glory in the past five years. Sizing John also won the race before securing Cheltenham Gold Cup glory two months later in 2017.
Owned by the Molony family since the beginning of the 20th century, Thurles will be the first racecourse to close in the country for 17 years since Tralee racecourse ceased to operate in 2008. It is unclear as yet whether their feature contests will be continued elsewhere.
The closure will end 293 years of horse racing history at the venue, with it also being the track where Michael O’Sullivan so tragically suffered his life-ending accident. Running costs were cited as the primary reason for shutting down.
Thurles’ absence leaves 24 full-time racecourses in Ireland to host fixtures during the 2025/26 jumps season.