Horse racing bosses hoping Jeremy Clarkson makes a surprise appearance at races

Horse racing bosses are hoping presenter Jeremy Clarkson will fly to Ireland this weekend to join his girlfriend Lisa Hogan at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby Festival.

The three-day racing festival kicks off at the Curragh racecourse this weekend, Friday, June 28 until June 30.

Lisa, who also stars in Clarkson’s Farm, will be judging the most stylish competitions on Saturday and Sunday, with the help of singing sensation Lyra.

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A spokesman told us: “We’d love for Jeremy to come along with Lisa and see a different kind of horsepower.”

Looking ahead to its biggest weekend of the year, the Curragh Racecourse and their catering partners Levy Ireland will be at full capacity. The venue will welcome over 1,500 hospitality clients from at least 50 companies coming from 12 individual countries who will be served by 28 chefs and 435 hospitality staff.

The catering demands will be huge and preparation has already started with oysters on the menu for the first time ever. 1.5 tonnes of potatoes and fresh vegetables have already been ordered and it is expected that 8,850 pints of Guinness, beers and lagers will be drank along with 4,400 bottles of beer, 850 bottles of Moet champagne, 1280 bottles of wine, 150 bottles of vodka, 78 bottles of gin, 8800 soft drinks, at least 2,500 cups of tea and coffee along with 1,500 desserts, 1,850 burgers and hundreds of picnic baskets over the course of the three day festival.

Furthermore, the Curragh’s in-house hospitality will be complimented by tasty food truck offerings from Shoda Café, Food Junkie, El Fuego, Nolan’s Kitchen and Sidechick among others.

Top tribute rock band Abbaesque will perform on Friday evening in Champions Hall while Saturday sees trad rock band Rake the Ashes take the stage after racing in the revamped Derby Village Marquee.

The festival will come to a close on Derby Day with a live performance from group Electric Dreams.

Shuttle buses from Newbridge, Naas and Kildare town centres will run throughout each day of the festival.

Shuttles from Newbridge and Kildare train stations will link with Iarnrod Eireann arrivals to the stations and bring people to and from the racecourse on each day. For those travelling from Dublin, the best way to reach the race course is by train to Newbridge and Kildare train stations where you can pick up the regular shuttle to the Curragh.

Buses will commence to allow arrival before the first race and finish two hours after the last race. Buses are scheduled with Irish Rail’s main train arrival and departure times in mind and will be updated and displayed on www.curragh.ie in the days leading up to the fixture.

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