Horse Racing Ireland

An online auction promoted and managed by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) raised €50,000 for the Feed The Heroes, a not-for-profit voluntary organisation set up to feed frontline hospital and emergency workers dealing with the Covid-19 health emergency. The auction generated €31,158, and the HRI donated the balance to reach the final total of €50,000. The 36 auction items included a Galway Festival course walk with Ruby Walsh, corporate hospitality at Longines Irish Champions Weekend, signed Al Boum Photo silks and a yard visit to Ger Lyons. The top lot was...

Horse Racing Ireland's (HRI) Industry Education and Training Department have co-ordinated a variety of platforms and services to support the racing industry while racing is suspended due to COVID-19. Among services funded by HRI: Industry Assistance Programme (IAP), offering free access to trained counsellors, psychotherapists and information specialists who provide emotional support.  www.workinracing.ie/industry-welfare/industry-assistance-programme/ Providing horsemen with a COVID-19 business continuity planning best practices information. Sports psychology and other support for jockeys/apprentices, through the 'The Jockey Pathway' workinracing.ie/jockey-pathway/ HRI's Industry Education and Training Department COVID-19 FAQ for employers, available at https://www.workinracing.ie/....

The announcement from Jockey Club Racecourses on Tuesday afternoon clarified, up to a point, a view which many within racing already held: that a number of the Classics would not go ahead on their original scheduled dates. There are 427 Group races and 426 listed races scheduled on the Flat in Europe this year. Only a handful has been run so far this year, the most recent being the one Group race and one listed contest on the card at Naas on Monday, Mar. 23. The next day, Ireland followed...

The Board of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has agreed to conclude the 2019/2020 National Hunt season, effective immediately, with the spring festivals at Fairyhouse and Punchestown not to be rescheduled as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. "We have stressed throughout that Government and HSE guidelines around fighting Covid-19 must come first and racing will only be able to resume when the Government guidelines permit and when there is adequate medical cover in place to ensure that race meetings can be staged safely," said Nicky Hartery, Chairman of Horse Racing...

Horse Racing Ireland Chairman Nicky Hartery admits the sport possibly faces its "greatest challenge" after the decision was taken to suspend racing until the middle of April. Ireland had been racing behind closed doors since Mar. 13 as countries around the world battle to stop the spread of coronavirus. However, on Tuesday the Irish Government announced it was cancelling all sports events, even those without spectators, until at least Apr. 19--leaving the HRI board to assess the implications at a meeting on Wednesday. Hartery said, "What is most important is...

On the day that the first death resulting from coronavirus was reported in Ireland, the country on Thursday put in place various restrictions on gatherings of large groups of people that are to remain in place until Mar. 29. Following on from those developments, Horse Racing Ireland announced that until that date, racing will take place without spectators. In efforts to keep the number of persons on track at race meetings beneath 500, racecourse access will be restricted to essential service providers and industry participants. There will be no catering,...

Horse Racing Ireland has detailed its plans to grow the racing and breeding industries in the country over a five-year period. The organization's strategic plan for 2020-2024 seeks to grow the economic contribution of the industry to €2.5-billion, total sustainable employment to 35,000, racecourse attendance to 1.5-million, fixtures to 416 and minimum race value to €12,500. The plan also includes a second all-weather track at Tipperary, a redeveloped equine campus at the Irish Equine Centre and education and training programmes for the workforce. "The most recent analysis shows that for...

Horse Racing Ireland has entered into a three-year partnership with sports marketing agency Two Circles with the goal of growing racecourse attendance and improving customer experience. The partnership comes on the back of a pilot project between the two organizations that allowed them to gain a better understanding of who Irish racing's customers are and what drives their relationship to the sport. Two Circles also works with the likes of the RCA (Racecourse Association), Great British Racing, The Jockey Club, Ascot Racecourse, Goodwood, Juddmonte Farms, World Horse Racing, the Hong...

The 2019 Irish horse racing and breeding industry statistics were released by Horse Racing Ireland on Monday. During the past year, the number of horses returned in training in Ireland rose 3% to 8,949, with new owner registrations up by 6.8% to 851 new racehorse owners. These were split into 600 new sole owners and partners and 216 new syndicates. Commercial race sponsorship and contributions to prizemoney by racecourses continued to rise also, growing by 17.3% in 2019. There were over 1.3 million people who attended a racemeeting in 2019...