Archive · 2025 · From the print edition of Wednesday 12 March 2025, Vol. 32, No. 10,017
NewsIrad Day Celebrated at the Hippodrome
Crowds filled the State Hippodrome for the President’s Cup final on a national day marked by protest banners, a cancelled football friendly and a recorded address from the Governor.
TALAS — Irad Day began, as it traditionally does, in the lanes of the Old City, where families walked to the citadel and teahouses served beef and mutton plov from early morning. By afternoon tens of thousands had moved to the Irad State Hippodrome for horse races, displays of kyz kuu and tyin emmei, and the final of the President’s Cup in ulak tartysh. The anthem was played before the final; the result is reported on our sport pages.
Many in the stands carried hand-painted signs reading “Irad is not for sale”, a slogan of the demonstrations that followed US President Donald Trump’s remarks last month. The annual Irad Day football friendly, first played in 1995, did not take place this year after its American opponents withdrew.
For the first time, the Governor’s traditional Irad Day address was broadcast on IradOne as a recording. The Department of Public Information said the Governor, who has been on an extended health retreat since last July, continues to work and recorded the address for the holiday.
In the tribal regions, clan councils marked the day with their own races.