Updated: November 11, 2013Leopardstown Racecourse announced today that Ryanair will become title sponsor of the final day of the Leopardstown Christmas Festival 2013. Ryanair will sponsor three races on the day, including the feature Grade 1 ‘Ryanair Hurdle’ (formerly the Istabraq Festival Hurdle). The Ryanair Hurdle is one of the top hurdle races of the season and has produced many fine champions over the years including Istabraq, Hurricane Fly, Moscow Flyer and Brave Inca. The race is often seen as a pointer for the Champion Hurdle in Cheltenham. To celebrate this new sponsorship Ryanair passengers travelling to Ireland over Christmas will be able to buy two tickets for the price of one to the 29th December raceday through the Ryanair website. Michael O’Leary CEO of Ryanair said: “Ryanair is delighted to team up with Leopardstown to sponsor day four of the Leopardstown Christmas Festival. We look forward to bringing thousands of Irish people home for Christmas. The generous offer of two tickets for the price of one, will appeal to many thousands of Ryanair customers.’’Pat Keogh CEO of Leopardstown said: “This year’s Ryanair Hurdle promises to be another great encounter and could see Hurricane Fly, Our Conor and Jezki go head to head over the two mile distance”. He added “We are delighted to welcome Ryanair, one of Europe’s leading consumer brands and Ireland’s favourite airline, to Leopardstown. They will add enormously to our Christmas Festival.” On Ryanair Day Leopardstown Racecourse will also host one of the final large-scale ‘Gathering’ events of the year. As part of the celebrations, there will be a live concert after racing with Mary Black and Finbar Furey. The raceday is also the first day of the four- day New Year’s Eve Festival in Dublin.Comments