A DELEGATION of American and Canadian-based board members from the Organisation of Racing Investigators (ORI) visited Ireland last week as part of an exchange programme with security teams from the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), France Galop, British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and the National Horseracing Authority of Southern Africa.

Chris Gordon, IHRB head of security and investigations, is the international representative on the board of ORI and hosted David Duncan, Juan Estrada, J.C. Jaramillo, Jason Klouser and Tyler Durand at the offices of the IHRB.

The delegation went racing at Leopardstown where they observed the integrity areas including the stableyard entrance, weighroom and stewards’ room. The group also went to Downpatrick before going on to England to meet with members of the BHA this week.

Chris Gordon commented: “This visit further shows our commitment to maintaining close engagement between international regulatory bodies in an attempt to share knowledge and collaborate with other jurisdictions in the area of race day security and investigations.

“The ORI members were racing in Leopardstown and got to see the Curragh on a non-raceday and have been very impressed with the facilities here in Ireland.

“It was a good opportunity to see how the pre-race checks operate in Ireland when horses arrive to the races as well as get an insight into our equine anti-doping programme and see how our raceday stewards oversee a meeting over here.”