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The day has dawned sunny though blustery in Dublin and all is set fair for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby later today.
Along with the Dubai Duty Free team and several of their industry colleagues and friends I’m staying at The K Club, the wonderful leisure resort that hosted the Ryder Cup back in 2006. But it’s horse racing, not golf, that is the talk of the town today.
In a few hours all of Ireland will stop as The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby gets under way. As my colleague The Moodie Tipster revealed earlier in the week, there’s a field of eight lining up today, including the second, third, fourth and fifth from the recent Epsom (English) Derby. It should be a great race.
Dubai Duty Free has seized the marketing moment with its customary panache. As thousands of visitors arrive at Dublin Airport they come across widespread Dubai Duty Free branding near the Arrivals shop (pictured) and out in the main Arrivals hall. It’s as if the world’s biggest duty free sales location has decamped to Ireland temporarily.
Last night Dubai Duty Free was the lead sponsor of a charity dinner for the Irish Autism Association, giving €20,000 on the evening to the cause. The evening was also notable for a moving speech by Keith Duffy (pictured below with Dubai Duty Free Managing Director Colm McLoughlin) of popular music group Boyzone, who spoke about his daughter Mia’s struggles with the condition. Through a process known as Applied Behaviour Analysis, involving one-on-one teaching, Keith and his wife Lisa have been able to make a profound difference to Mia’s life and in recent years the singer has poured his time, money and soul into raising money so that others can benefit similarly. It was a great evening for a great cause.
I’ll have to cut this Blog short as it’s nearly racing time. Who will win the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby? I am following the advice of The Moodie Tipster and going for Treasure Beach. But there’s been a fair bit of rain here over the past few days and the yielding track could yet produce a boilover. Follow The Moodie Tipster’s advice by all means. But remember, the value of your investment could go down, as well as up.