HRI roadshows

HORSE Racing Ireland will hold a series of roadshows in April entitled What The Future Holds for Irish Racing.

The forums will feature contributions from CEO Brian Kavanagh and HRI senior management on the current health of the industry and where the challenges lie. The opening forum will be held in the Raheen Woods Hotel in Athenry on Wednesday, April 11th (7pm-9pm), during which the beginning of the summer season in the west of Ireland will also be celebrated.

The remaining dates in this series are Thursday, April 12th in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dundalk; Wednesday, April 18th in the Horse & Jockey Hotel, Horse And Jockey, Co Tipperary; and Thursday, April 19th in Lawlor’s Hotel, Naas.

AIRO numbers up

THE annual general meeting of the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners [AIRO] took place on Tuesday when chairman Brian Polly reported that membership of the Association had increased to over 2,100.

He expressed appreciation to the racecourses which had improved the raceday experience for owners and hoped that all tracks would provide an acceptable minimum level of hospitality for owners with a runner. There was a call from members for additional fixtures during the winter all-weather season in Dundalk to cater for the large number of entries in races confined to horses rated between 45 and 65.

Outgoing council members David Hyland, Richard Pugh and Caren Walsh were re-elected and are joined by Brian Polly (chairman), John Weld (vice chairman), Dr Brendan Doyle (treasurer), William Bourke, Sandra Fox, James Gough, Judy Maxwell, John Power and Paddy Roche.

New video service

HORSE Racing Ireland has introduced a high definition race replay service for racehorse owners. Following the running of each race, all winning owners will receive a link which will allow them to watch the race and presentation online. All owners should ensure their email address is registered with HRI. Owners with other runners in the race can request a replay by emailing Aidan McGarry on amcgarry@hri.ie

EBF deadline

THE deadline for nominating yearlings to the European Breeders Fund has been moved to May 31st. At a cost of €487, any yearling by a sire not registered to the EBF and standing outside of Europe can be made eligible to run in the EBF programme of races throughout Europe which are worth €5 million in additional prizemoney.

Kerry Murphy of the EBF explained: “As the yearling sales landscape has changed over the years we felt that it is now possible to move this deadline, giving breeders who intend to race their yearlings, or those who are consigning them to a sale, plenty of time to nominate.

“Those nominated by May 31st will be confirmed as EBF nominated on their page in the major yearling sales catalogues. This nomination stage is mostly applicable to breeders using American or Japanese stallions that are not registered to the EBF.”