Swiss watch maker Longines has signed up as the title partner of the Irish Champions Weekend horse racing event and the official timekeeper for the Curragh and Leopardstown racecourses.
The terms of the multi-year agreement were not disclosed. The maiden Irish Champions Weekend under Longines’ sponsorship will take place on September 12-13 this year.
Leopardstown and the Curragh together host 42 race meetings, including all the Irish Classics. As official timekeeper, Longines will install clocks and chronometers at both racecourses.
Irish Champions Weekend hosts 10 races including five Group One races and features the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown and the Irish St Leger at the Curragh.
Longines will also be the presenting sponsor of the Prize of Elegance, rewarding the most elegantly dressed ladies of each day at the festival with watches.
Horse Racing Ireland chief executive Brian Kavanagh said: “The inaugural Irish Champions Weekend in 2014 immediately established itself as one of the leading flat racing events in the world. It is effectively the first leg of a triple crown of late-season flat championships in Europe, followed by the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe meeting and QIPCO British Champions Day in October.”