MICHAEL KINANE ANNOUNCED AS HORSE RACING IRELAND'S 2010 FLAT AMBASSADOR   

On Thursday 6th May Horse Racing Ireland along with top Flat Jockeys Kevin Manning and Fran Berry unveiled the retired top Flat jockey Michael Kinane as HRI’s 2010 Flat Ambassador. During a brilliant riding career that spanned 35 years, Mick Kinane established himself as Irish racing’s most successful international Flat jockey before retiring last December. Following a truly memorable association with John Oxx’s champion racehorse Sea The Stars, the 50-year-old Co Tipperary-born rider exited amidst a blaze of glory that was only fitting for someone who had contributed so much to the elevation of Irish Flat racing to its current world class status. The only jockey who can claim wins in all the major European Group 1 races as well as in the Belmont Stakes, the Breeders’ Cup, the Japan Cup, the Hong Kong Cup and the Melbourne Cup, Michael Kinane is an instantly recognisable and universally respected figure.

Tamso Doyle, HRI PR Manager, said: "We are delighted that Michael has agreed to be our second Flat Ambassador, to cover the 2010 season and to follow in the footsteps of our 2009 Ambassador Johnny Murtagh, whom we thank for all his hard work and enthusiasm. Michael has been a wonderful sporting Ambassador for Ireland internationally for his entire career and hopefully we can piggy-back on his many planned international racing trips this year and he can once again fly the flag for Irish racing. Michael will also be going on-line and bringing his unique racing insights and thoughts to Twitter and Facebook, which many of our audience and potential audiences use for information and entertainment."

Johnny Murtagh, HRI’s 2009 Flat Ambassador, said: "I really enjoyed my season as HRI’s Flat Ambassador and would like to wish Michael all the best. Michael has years of experience behind him and I’m sure he’ll bring great insight to his role as HRI Flat Ambassador. Now that he’s on the outside looking in he won’t have to be as diplomatic!  I just about mastered Facebook and Twitter and somehow managed to attract about 5,000 ‘friends’.”

Michael Kinane, HRI’s 2010 Flat Ambassador said: “I'm delighted to be working with HRI as their Flat Ambassador for 2010 and I’m looking forward to the new challenge of using Facebook and Twitter – I may be calling on my daughters for assistance! I’ve had a wonderful career in racing and I would like to spread the word and focus on getting more people, especially families and youngsters, to come and enjoy a day at the races. In tough times people still need to be entertained, and racing definitely has the power to give them the feel good factor. It was great to see a huge crowd at the Curragh this last Bank Holiday Monday, up some 2,500 on the previous year’s attendance, and with the recent success of the Punchestown Festival and the launch of the Tote Go Racing Club, hopefully we are starting to see a return to growth in racecourse attendances again.”

Michael will be giving racegoers an in-depth look behind-the-scenes of Irish racing, his thoughts on the big races and his analysis of the young riding talent in Ireland, as he twitters & facebooks his way through the 2010 Flat season. He will also doing a series of appearances for HRI during the summer and be doing a weekly diary that people can subscribe to for free on www.totegoracingclub.com.

www.facebook.com/michaelkinane
http://twitter.com/MichaelKinane