Published in 2023, ‘The Centenary of Naas Racecourse – Nursery of Champions’ by Turtle Bunbury is available via www.naasracecourse.com for €50 plus post and packaging.
Established in 1924, Naas Racecourse is renowned as a nursery of champions for both National Hunt and the Flat. It won Racecourse of the Year at the annual Association of Irish Racehorse Owners Awards in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
The numbers speak for themselves.
As of April 2025, the winners of 31 Aintree Grand Nationals, 28 Cheltenham Gold Cups and eight King George VI Chases have honed their skills at Naas. In recent years, Naas veterans have gone to the Cheltenham Festival and won the Gold Cup, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, the Triumph Hurdle and the Queen Mother Champion Chase twice. Indeed, nine of the winners at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival had previously raced, and invariably triumphed, on the track at Naas.
The Flat yields similarly excellent results. Little Big Bear, rated the best European two-year-old in 2022, won his maiden at Naas. So did Auguste Rodin, winner of the 2023 Epsom Derby. Since 2020, the Epsom Oaks, the English 2,000 Guineas, the English 1,000 Guineas, the Melbourne Cup and five Breeders’ Cups have also been won by horses that have pounded around the track at Naas. Charles Darwin, winner of the 2025 Norfolk Stakes at Ascot, had previously raced at Naas.
This book traces the evolution of the track from a humble field on the outskirts of a bustling Irish market town to its present-day status as one of Europe’s best-loved boutique racecourses. It homes in on some of the most fascinating and successful horses to have competed on the course, as well as the jockeys, trainers, owners and spectators that have accompanied them.
This book was commissioned by the Naas Race Company to mark 100 years since the first race at Naas in 1924. It was researched and written by Turtle Bunbury, with research assistance from Maria O’Brien. Designed by John Power, the book was printed by Die Keure in Bruges, who also produce books for the Tate, the Guggenheim and the Rijksmuseum.