Off-course betting on horse-racing totalled £927 million in 2000, a 27 per cent increase on the previous year, according to the Irish Horseracing Authority. At racecourses, punters wagered £161.9 million, 21 per cent more than the year before. Betting with on-course bookmakers at home and away meetings rose 23.7 per cent to £129.3 million. Just under 1.36 million people attended the 270 racing fixtures held in Ireland last year, an increase of 3.4 per cent on 1999.

Total prize money increased by 18 per cent to £24.3 million. Chief executive Mr Martin Moore said it was a good year but, on an international scale, Irish racehorse owners ranked only 37th in a survey of the amount of money recovered in prize-money from racing - 24 per cent of keep and training costs, he said.