THE Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Awards are under starter's orders at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham tonight, with Waterford Crystal as sponsor.

Guest of honour at tonight's black tie dinner is the Minister for Agriculture, Ivan Yates, and he'll be in good company with Tony O'Reilly and former Taoiseach Charles Haughey. Also there will be the chairman of the Irish Horseracing Authority, Denis Brosnan; the senior steward of the Turf Club, Michael Osborne; the chairman of the British Thoroughbred Breeders' Association, Nigel Elwes; the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association's president, Sean Collins; and the association's chairwoman, Eimear Mulhern.

The award honours breeders of outstanding flat and national hunt bred horses, and the ceremony will be presented by thoroughbred industry expert Leo Powell and UTV's Pamela Balantine. Whoever wins the award will walk away with a Waterford trophy, but they'd better not leave it lying around in the stables.