Horse Racing Ireland

GAIN Equine Nutrition will sponsor a new race series, The Advantage Series, for the Irish Flat Season, Horse Racing Ireland announced on Tuesday. Launched with Ado McGuinness Racing, the eight part series of races will be run for points over a variety of conditions to cater to different trainers and horses throughout the season. For each race, there will be a 40% prizemoney boost. A grand prize of €5,000 worth of GAIN Equine Nutrition products will be awarded to the trainer who tops the GAIN The Advantage Series at the...

Nominations are now open for the 2021 Irish Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards, and close at 5 p.m. local time on Monday, Apr. 19. The Irish GSSSAs are held in association with the Irish Stablestaff Association, the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association, Racing Post and Horse Racing Ireland. The 10 award categories offer combined prizemoney of over €85,000. Besides prizemoney allocated for the winner, the two finalists and their employers, €100 will be set aside to the short-listed candidates in eight of the award categories. Sandra Hughes, Godolphin's Irish Stud...

Irish Racecourses will have the opportunity to increase stabling capacity after the board of Horse Racing Ireland approved a fund of €1-million to assist racecourses with that goal. A policy of one stable per horse at Irish racecourses was a key goal in the HRI Strategic Plan released last March and was also a key Covid safety requirement. Jason Morris, HRIs director of racing, said, "The rule by which racecourses must provide each horse with their own stable has been in place since racing moved behind closed doors in June...

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board can gain access to and test-by blood, hair or urine sample--every Thoroughbred in the country, on licensed or unlicensed premises, without notice after being granted Authorised Officer status by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The announcement was part of a wide range of new measures and funding unveiled on Friday as part of Irish racing's anti-doping strategy. These also include the announcement of the planned development of a whole-of-life Thoroughbred traceability system, including 30-day foal notifications; the issuing of e-passports, beginning with...

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was laid bare in Irish racing's 2020 figures, which were revealed by Horse Racing Ireland on Friday. The resilience of owners was a rare bright spot, with ownership remaining static and down just 0.5% in a year where owners largely could not go racing. Owner retention from 2019 to 2020 stood at 73.6%, down 1.5% from the previous year, and the number of racing clubs rose 6%. The number of horses in training in Ireland also rose for the fourth time in five years,...

The Irish Government's Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine has released updated advice for horse movement through Great Britain beginning on New Year's Day, Horse Racing Ireland announced on Thursday. The new guidelines are intended for those transporting horses and the Trader Notice, which outlines procedures for export certification to Britain from Jan. 1, as well as information on movements to and from France and Northern Ireland, may be accessed here. The new guidelines are summarized as follows for each equine exporter from Ireland to Great Britain: Register with DAFM....

Following the news that the Irish Government has banned UK travel, no Irish-trained horses or Irish jockeys will compete in the UK through Dec. 31, Horse Racing Ireland announced on Tuesday. The travel ban will expire on New Year's Eve. In addition, declarations for UK-trained horses to race in Ireland will not be accepted during that time frame. "The concern from Government is very clear: these are exceptional times and a travel ban with the UK is a once-in-a-generation occurrence," said Horse Racing Ireland Chief Executive Brian Kavanagh. "Irish racing...

Horse Racing Ireland's 2021 budget has been approved, with measures to combat the threats of COVID-19 and Brexit key among the priorities. Brian Kavanagh, chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland, said, "The HRI budget for 2021 is set in the context of two lifetime challenges hitting the sector simultaneously and the priority is to shield the industry from the impacts of both Covid-19 and Brexit, while being cognisant of the welfare of our horses and the people that work with them. Thanks to the effort of many, the finances of...

Four additional Dundalk fixtures have been added for early 2021 to cope with the recent high number of entries at the track and the significant number of horses that have been balloted out of races at Dundalk's last three meetings. The additional meetings will take place on Jan. 11 (afternoon), Jan. 20 (evening), Feb. 1 (afternoon) and Feb. 17 (afternoon). Jason Morris, HRI director of racing, said, "We have had representations from the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association, the Restricted Trainers Association and the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners, all of...

The 2020 Horse Racing Ireland Awards will be broadcast free-to-air on Dec. 15 at 10 a.m. on Racing TV. The 50-minute programme will be presented by Gary O'Brien and will also be available to view on HRI.ie and across Horse Racing Ireland's social media channels. Members of the Irish racing media have determined the winners in seven categories and a public vote has chosen the winner of the Ride of the Year Award. Horse Racing Ireland will also present a Contribution to the Industry Award and an Irish Racing Hero...

Owners in Ireland are once again banned from watching their runners in person, as Irish racing will continue behind closed doors due to the coronavirus. The Irish government moved the whole country to level three restrictions on Monday evening following an Irish Cabinet meeting with chief medical officer Dr. Tony Holohan earlier in the day. The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) had recommended all of Ireland be placed under level five restrictions for the next four weeks. Under level five restrictions all organised sports are halted. Prior to tonight's...

Reciprocal arrangements on participation by runners trained in international jurisdictions were announced jointly by the British Horseracing Authority and Horse Racing Ireland on Monday. Beginning on Oct. 1, internationally-trained horses will be permitted to participate in all British races other than Class 5 and 6 handicaps/classified stakes on the Flat and Class 5 handicaps over Jumps. All such runners will be subject to the relevant government regulations. The same arrangements will also be introduced in Ireland on Oct. 1. The Irish Rules of Racing will continue to state that "a...