Staff from the racing yards of Jim Bolger, Gavin Cromwell, Gordon Elliott, Eoin Griffin, Noel Meade and Dermot Anthony McLoughlin, have been announced as Horse Racing Ireland’s (HRI) 2025 Irish Thoroughbred Welfare Council best turned out league (BTO) winners.
The best turned out league was established in 2021 to recognise and celebrate the exceptional standards of care provided to racehorses by the dedicated staff in racing yards across the country, who consistently go above and beyond for the horses they look after.
There are three categories for Flat and National Hunt yards and are based on the number of runners each yard had during the year. Each of the winning yards receive €3,000 to be divided among staff.
FLAT
On the Flat, Gavin Cromwell’s team, operating from Balrath in County Meath, won category A for the second time with 71 best turned out prizes from 274 runners.
Noel Meade, based in Tu Va Stables in Castletown in County Meath took category B with 80 BTOs from 249 runners, while Carlow-based trainer Jim Bolger’s staff took category C on the Flat with 38 best turned out horses from 145 runners.
NATIONAL HUNT
The National Hunt category was also very competitive with Gordon Elliott’s staff winning category A for the fifth year in a row. Gordon’s team, based in Longwood, County Meath produced 139 best turned out horses from 1,178 runners.
The National Hunt category B winner went to Dermot McLoughlin’s team, also in County Meath, with 54 best turned out horses from their 196 runners.
Eoin Griffin’s Beacon Hill Stables in Kilkenny took the spoils in category C, with an impressive 37 best turned out winners from 71 runners to take the €3,000 pot.
“Once again the BTO league highlights the quality of care our horses receive,” John Osborne, Equine Welfare & Bloodstock Director at Horse Racing Ireland, said. “Over 275 yards won a best turned out prize during 2025 and of these 242 managed to win more than one, so excellence is evident among so many people.
