As well as the Irish Racehorse Experience, the attraction gives visitors the opportunity to take a free guided tour that explains the history of the stud and its most famous racehorses. A visit in spring is particularly magical as it is then that foals can be seen taking their first steps.
The Japanese Gardens at the stud are also a world-class visitor attraction.
Created between 1906 and 1910, they are the finest of their kind in Europe. The gardens were laid out by Japanese master horticulturist Tassa Eida and his son Minoru with the aim of symbolising the ‘Life of Man’ through trees, plants, flowers, lawns, rocks and water.
Visitors can also take a stroll through St. Fiachra’s Garden, which complements the Japanese Gardens by presenting the natural beauty of woodland, wetland, waterfalls, lakes and streams – a tribute to the Irish landscape in its rawest state.
County Kildare is known as the Thoroughbred County as it is the heart of Ireland’s horseracing community. The Curragh, Punchestown and Naas racecourses are all wonderful places to witness top-class racing and soak up the excitement of a sport that has been part of Irish life for centuries.
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