Tipperary Racecourse is a dual -purpose racecourse, located 3km outside of Tipperary Town in Limerick Junction. They host up to eleven flat and jump meetings annually from October through to April. The feature raceday at Tipperary Racecourse is “Super Sunday”, which is held annually at the beginning of October. The meeting hosts a mix of flat and jumps racing including The Group 3 Concorde Stakes over 7 and a half furlongs, the Grade 2 Horse & Jockey Hotel Hurdle, the Grade 3 Joe Mac Novice Hurdle and the Grade 3 Like A Butterfly Novice Chase.

Tipperary Course Characteristics

The course is a left-handed, flat, oval track with a circumference of around 9 furlongs. There is also a chute that joins the straight which is used for 5f straight sprints. The bends are very sharp and quite tight. The chase course is situated inside the hurdles track with six fences to a circuit and two in the home straight. It is a galloping track that tends to suit those ridder more prominently.

For course information and going reports on the day, Tipperary Racecourse provide updates on their Twitter account https://twitter.com/tipperaryraces

IS THERE A PACE BIAS AT TIPPERARY RACECOURSE?

Like most of the 5f tracks in Ireland and UK, there is a strong bias towards front runners. The 5f straight at Cork seems to produce some of the best figures in terms of front runners (35.85% win rate in 8+ runners fields - handicap/non handicap races inclusive). Tipp on the other hand has as 23.08% figure in comparison which doesn’t sound as impressive. Both tracks are quite similar although they are run the opposite way. Similarly to Cork, held up runners are at quite a disadvantage over 5f. As you can see by the image below, it is a lot more profitable to focus on those ridden to the fore. In 8+ runner handicaps, both front (+41.25 win P&L) and prominent (72.63 win P&L) runners are both profitable to follow.

The longer distances again favour front runners but the bias is not as pronounced. Tipperary is relatively flat and is known as a speed track so front runners can be hard to catch when given a lead. Front runners perform better on good to firmer ground which backs up the idea of the speed track. In 7f+ handicap races on good ground or better, front runners have been profitable to follow (win P&L 7.75) and produce a strike rate of 14.56% (vs 12.06% if including all ground types).

The hurdle and chase courses again favour those ridden prominently. Held up runners (in 8+runner races) have a 3.88% win rate which is towards the lower end of the scale (Cork 3.17%). Front runners in 8+ runner chases have a win rate of 16.24%, which is about the average figure for the UK/Ireland and by no means a standout figure. The win P&L is slightly inflated due to a couple of big-priced winners but front runners are profitable to follow on the chase course. The figures would suggest though that it is not an out and out front-running track. On the chase course, held up runners will struggle in the long run and those ridden handily will prevail more often than not. The hurdle course has a similar story but handicap hurdles are a lot fairer.

IS THERE A DRAW BIAS AT TIPPERARY RACECOURSE?

There is a definite high draw advantage over the 5f trip at Tipp, which inflates as the field size increases. The high draw bias is quite significant in large fields. In 12+ runner handicaps since 2009 for example, the high draw section has a 16.67% win rate (18 winners) vs 1.85% (2 winners) for both low and mid draws. High drawn runners in 8+ runner fields still perform better than low and middle draws combined. High drawn runners are also consistently profitable to follow. The heat map below (win%) shows all 8+ runner races over 5f. A high draw coupled with pace is at a huge advantage.

For the races greater than, and including 7f, high drawn runners are again at an advantage but not as significantly as the 5f trip. At first glance, one would assume that a low draw is favourable on the round course but a higher draw for example has seen more winners in handicap and non handicap races over 7f since 2009.

WHO ARE THE TOP TRAINERS AT TIPPERARY RACECOURSE?

Top flat racing trainers at Tipperary

Aidan O’Brien does not have too far to travel to get to Tipperary Racecourse. He has had the most runners and winners at Tipperary over the last 10 years with a win rate of 27.31%.

John Ox does well at Tipperay, with a win rate of 21.69% and win P&L 18.91. As does Willie McCreery who has a 19.14% win rate and 30.34 win P&L.

Local man David Marnane does well in handicaps with a 22.86% win rate and win P&L of 38.25.

Top jumps racing trainers at Tipperary

Of the trainers with more than 20 runners, Willie Mullins has the best win rate at 36.3%.

Gordon Elliott has had 39 runners in handicaps but has only had 2 winners (5.13% strike rate) - one in 2010 and one in 2015.

WHO ARE THE TOP JOCKEYS AT TIPPERARY RACECOURSE?

Top flat jockeys at Tipperary

Oisin Orr has the best win rate in handicaps with 22.73% (5 winners from 22 rides).

Billy Lee is also a jockey to follow, he has a 18.27% win rate and 42.58 win P&L.

Top jump jockeys at Tipperary

Darragh O’Keefe has the best win rate (21.74%) over the last 10 years.

Paul Townend is behind him in second (17.95%). Both jockeys have also been profitable to follow with win P&L’s of 21.38 and 26 respectively.