Figures published by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) show that prize-money, attendances, recruitment of new owners and the value of horses sold at public auction are among the metrics that trended positively for the first six months of 2026.Of all the key benchmarks registered, it was the value of bloodstock sales at public auction that fared best, soaring by 20.9% to €82.7m to underline the continued demand for Irish thoroughbreds at home and abroad.Elsewhere, prize-money in Irish racing is increasing by €4.3m this year, as announced in January by HRI. This was reflected in a 5.4% uplift in purses to €33.2m until the end of June. The improved race values came into effect in March.Attendances rose by 0.7% on the equivalent figure a year ago, which was up by 6.9% on that achieved over the same time span in 2024. The postponement of day one of the Dublin Racing Festival from a sold-out Saturday fixture to Monday, plus a total of nine rescheduled or abandoned fixtures in the first two months of 2026 due to bad weather, had an adverse effect on this year's total to date.The number of active owners remained steady at 3,860, with 486 new names joining the ownership ranks in the first half of this year, up 17.9% on the corresponding number in 2025. Individual runners that won prize-money until the end of June lifted by 1.4% to 3,873.On-course betting turnover with bookmakers slipped by 4.8% to €34m, although the equivalent handle on-course through the Tote grew by 5.5% to €3.8m. The off-course performance by the Tote on Irish pools has been strong, leaping 11.1% to €31.1m. Turnover for the Classic meetings open to the World Pool grew by 5.7% to €55.4m.Irish racing continues to appeal commercially with sponsorship rising by 4.3% to €4.8m.In terms of horses on the track, the total number of runners on Irish racecourses was up by 0.8% at 14,661, with Flat runners up by 3.5% to 6,534 and National Hunt runners falling slightly by 1.3% to 8,127. Field sizes remain at the same average of 11.4 participants. The overall quantity of races run was up by 1.3% to 1,288 – 576 on the Flat (up by 2.5%) and 712 over jumps (up by 0.4%).New guidelines on traceability and horse welfare introduced in early 2025 requires trainers to notify HRI of all thoroughbred horses in their care in accordance with IHRB Rule 148. Horses in the care of trainers and 'Racing Active' (race entry ready) dropped marginally by 1.2% to 8,488.“The figures for our racing and breeding industry for the first half of this year are broadly positive,” said Suzanne Eade, Horse Racing Ireland CEO.“Last year we made a commitment to boost prize-money with the willingness and support of industry stakeholders, and that endeavour is starting to bear fruit. This is the first phase of a three-year plan we believe will restore competitiveness to Ireland's prize-money levels.“The increase in new owners and rise in the value of bloodstock sales at auction are encouraging and not unrelated to the elevated levels of prize-money. The industry can have confidence that more investment is on the way.“Despite the bad weather severely interrupting attendances in the first two months of the year, Dublin Racing Festival still held its own, while Fairyhouse Easter Festival, Punchestown National Hunt Festival and Guineas Festival Weekend at the Curragh performed well, showing the widespread appeal of the bigger festivals and meetings.“While we can be reasonably satisfied with these figures, the work to improve what Irish racing offers never stops. There is no winning post in this sense. An indigenous industry that delivers so much for government, for the economy and for communities throughout the country deserves nothing less.”The post Value of Irish Bloodstock Sales Rises by 21% as HRI Publishes Figures for First Half of 2026 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.