The foundation is in place, we now need to build an industry together.
- The Joint Committee for Agriculture will shortly prepare a comprehensive Report on the horse industry in Ireland. This will include an extensive chapter on Harness Racing in Ireland and will contain the Committee’s recommendations to the Minister for Agriculture.
- The Report from the Turf Club concerning the race meeting in Dundalk in September and recent Veterinary Stable inspections will be sent to the Minister for Agriculture and the Oireachtas Joint Committee for Agriculture in early January.
- All the criteria set out by Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has now been met which should pave the way for clearance to race at Dundalk in 2016, once clearance is received dates will be announced for racing to include both Trotteur Francais and Pacing with a potential starting date in April
- IHRA is in advanced negotiations for the export of Irish Harness Racing from Dundalk which will allow these races will be bet on internationally with a commission to be paid to the IHRA based on recognized international rates. Contracts are being prepared and the aim is for finalization during the coming weeks.
- Advanced discussions are also in progress for the development of a dedicated tote for harness racing which will initially cover races from both Dundalk and Portmarnock which will allow betting both on and off course on our races.
- The tote is an integral and extremely important part of our development as it will form the basis for our races to potentially be bet on nationally as well as internationally. A strong tote is the proven formula for a strong industry funding. Apart from online tote offering IHRA is also seeking the inclusion into bookmaker shops.
- The 2016 Trotteur Francais program will see a sizeable increase in prize money distribution which is expected to be in the region of €300,000 with continued and additional supports from Le Trot.
- A further 20 Trotteur Francais horses have been added to the pool following the recent sale in November.
- June 19thhas provisionally been assigned for ‘French Day’ at Dundalk. Le-Trot intend sending some of their leading drivers to race against our Irish drivers which promises to be a fun filled day.
- IHRA application for Full Membership of the Union of European Trotting is looking promising and we should receive the confirmed position in late January. If IHRA is successful in achieving this it will create more racing and promotional opportunities for Irish Harness Racing.
- The process of registering the first Irish Standardbred horses in the IHRA’s new Stud Book has now commenced which gives official recognition for the first time in our history to the Irish Standardbred Horse.
- A concerted effort to rebuild our breeding industry is also required as part of the overall strategy to build a strong racing industry over the coming years and various initiatives are being considered in this respect.
There is a solid foundation being laid and we are in a position to capitalize on the many ongoing developments. For all of these areas to be successful it will be a matter for all IHRA members to support where they can.
This is only the beginning and a lot more work is required but much has been and will continue to be achieved. Every Member has a part to play whether you have one horse or twenty horses in training and we now need to work collectively to help in achieving these goals.
