UAE/IRELAND. Latrobe won a thrilling finish to the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby for brothers Joseph O’Brien (as trainer) and Donnacha O’Brien (as jockey), as they trumped their famous father, leading trainer Aidan, in Ireland’s most prestigious horse race on Saturday. Latrobe just got the better of Rostropovich and Saxon Warrior in a tight finish. O’Brien was training the winner for Lloyd Williams, who had also teamed up with the young trainer to win the Melbourne Cup last November.
The race was the highlight of the three-day Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby festival at The Curragh. The event, sponsored by Dubai Duty Free since 2008, offers huge exposure for the retailer and for Dubai as a destination. With an eye to attracting the world’s best horses to compete, Dubai Duty Free this year raised the prize money to €1.5 million, making it Ireland’s richest race.
Dubai Duty Free Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Colm McLoughlin said; “This is our 11th year sponsoring the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby and we have seen it grow in terms of both its prestige and value over this time. It is great to be involved with a race of this calibre, and we were delighted to see the great progress that is happening at The Curragh. The redevelopment here is already very impressive and we are looking forward to seeing the final and finished facilities next year.”
Welcoming guests to the event on Saturday, McLoughlin noted the company’s 35-year journey, and said it would hit sales of US$2 billion in 2018.
The festival weekend includes a golf tournament at the K Club and a charity ball (with proceeds going to the Jack & Jill Foundation). Over €60,000 was raised for the children’s charity at the ball including a €20,000 donation from Dubai Duty Free.
On the day, Colm McLoughlin together with his wife Breeda and Senior Vice President of Marketing Sinead El Sibai hosted over 350 people for a VIP lunch in their private pavilion on the finish line. Guests included the UAE Ambassador to Ireland, H.E. Sultan Mohamed Majed Al Ali, RTE’s Mary Kennedy, Anne Doyle, Celia Holman Lee, Annette Rocca, Jane Given, Gay Byrne, Kathleen Watkins and TV3’s Alan Hughes.
The Best Dressed Lady Competition also took place on Saturday and was won by Regina Horan from Malahide. The fashion judges were Breeda McLoughlin, Colm McLoughlin, together with Bairbre Power and Nina Carberry. Ms Horan won a luxury trip to Dubai for two including flights and accommodation in the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel, a €1,000 Dubai Duty Free shopping voucher and two nights at The K Club in Straffan, Co. Kildare.
Later this week, the travel retailer is title sponsor of Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by The Rory Foundation, which takes place in Ballyliffin, County Donegal.
Dubai Duty Free invests heavily in the events it sponsors, spending 2.5% of its annual turnover on marketing each year, most of which is dedicated to sport.
