Horse Racing Ireland’s budget details for 2024 include a total of €17.3 million for the sport’s overall integrity services – a seven per cent increase on this year – but no extra funding will go to the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) itself.
Despite the regulator telling an Oireachtas Agriculture Committee earlier this month it was looking for an additional €1.2 million to implement recommendations in an independent report on anti-doping by Dr Craig Suann, HRI has kept IHRB operational funding unchanged at €11.4 million.
“The board of HRI has approved 2024 IHRB budgeted expenditure of €12.1 million. This expenditure is allocated as €11.4 million revenue and €750,0000 capital. The IHRB has been advised no further funding is available to implement the remaining Suann recommendations at this point,” a spokesman for the regulator said on Monday evening.
Despite the overall integrity budget including €800,000 in IT funding, the failure to get extra operational resources is a blow to the regulatory body.
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The IHRB chief executive Darragh O’Loughlin told the Oireachtas Committee the regulator had tested over 5,000 of the 34,000 runners in Ireland in 2022 but extra money was needed to increase that in line with the recommendations of the Suann report.
O’Loughlin said laboratory costs of about €1.6 million this year are the regulator’s biggest expense apart from payroll.
Elsewhere in HRI’s budget, prize money levels will reach €69.4 million across a record 395 fixtures next year. That is up €1.3 million on 2023.
An extra €800,000 is also planned for equine welfare funding, bringing it to a total of €3.5 million, while the breeders’ incentive scheme will continue and provide €1.3 million for qualifying winners that can be spent on Irish-bred horses at sales here next year.
HRI was allocated €76 million by the Government for 2024 in October’s budget, up €3.2 million on this year. Other sources of funding for the semi-State body’s activities include from media rights sales.
HRI’s chief executive Suzanne Eade said on Monday: “The value of the Irish horse racing and breeding industry was measured in 2023 and amounts to €2.5 billion, an increase of over 30 per cent since 2016, despite some challenging times in the intervening period.
“In framing the industry budget for 2024, Horse Racing Ireland wants to create the environment for that contribution to the economy to grow again.
“Deloitte’s research found that the industry fuels in excess of €500 million of foreign direct investment every year and we know that prize money remains the most significant lever in attracting investment into Irish racing.
“This FDI contributes heavily to rural economies all over Ireland, and so in increasing the fixture list to 395 fixtures in 2024, we do so by increasing the prize money fund to €69.4 million and maintaining current race values.”
In other news, no call has been made by the IHRB as to whether it will appeal the decision by a referrals committee to suspend a six-month suspension of Tony Martin’s licence following a positive drugs test from one of his runners after it won in Dundalk in January.
The disqualification of the Martin-trained Firstman was confirmed last week due to the horse returning a post-race positive for the prohibited substance lidocaine.
Firstman was a third Martin-trained winner in four years to be thrown out for failing a drugs test and although the Co Meath trainer was fined a total of €11,000, the referrals committee suspended a six-month licence suspension for two years subject to no breach of anti-doping rules in that period.
That has been criticised in some quarters as too lenient with comparisons made to another trainer, Denis Hogan, who had his licence removed for three months after four winners in five years failed drug tests.
On Monday, the IHRB’s Darragh O’Loughlin appeared to echo those criticisms.
Speaking to the Nick Luck Podcast, the regulator’s CEO, when outlining plans for greater consistency of penalties under the IHRB’s new strategic plan, said: “I have to say I’m not convinced that imposing a suspension, and then suspending the suspension, has the same deterrent effect as actually imposing a suspension.”
The IHRB still has a week to lodge an appeal against the independent panel’s decision and an IHRB spokesman said: “[There has been] no final decision on whether or not the IHRB will appeal.”
The IHRB has appealed what it has called the leniency of a referrals committee penalty that in September saw billionaire businessman and trainer Luke Comer lose his license for three years after a dozen of his string tested positive for anabolic steroids.
Comer has also lodged an appeal against the penalties which also saw him fined a total of €85,000 with legal costs to the regulator of more than €750,000. No date for either appeal to be heard has been made.
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