Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board | Horse Racing Free Tips

Winter Break For Top Irish Jockeys

Ireland's leading flat jockeys will have a four-week winter break after Horse Racing Ireland restricted three Dundalk meetings in early January to apprentices or jockeys or rode fewer than 20 winners last season. The meetings are Jan. 5, 7 and 14.

Jason Morris, Horse Racing Ireland's director of racing, said, “In 2021 HRI extended the break for our leading jump jockeys from 12 to 24 days during June, which was very well received. The changes announced today, which were proposed by the Irish Jockeys' Association, will mean that we will likewise have doubled the break period for the leading Flat jockeys from 14 to 28 days, while at the same time increasing opportunities for other riders at the start of the year.”

Jennifer Pugh, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's senior medical officer, said, “Following on from the extended break for National Hunt jockeys in June of this year, it is encouraging to see HRI take a similar approach for Flat jockeys. With a busy all-weather season now in place, in what was typically the off-season for Flat jockeys, they now remain busy for 12 months of the year, with no opportune time for rest and recuperation while racing continues. The mental health issues and high level of burnout faced by jockeys have been well documented by the Irish Jockey Research Group, so it is welcome to see the findings and recommendations of these studies come to fruition to further enhance jockey wellbeing.”

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Irish Raid Samples Test Negative For Prohibited Substances

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board confirmed on Tuesday that the hair and blood samples taken from Thoroughbreds at the County Kildare yard raided by Department of Agriculture Food & Marine (DAFM) two weeks ago all tested negative for substances classified as “prohibited at all times.”

“As this is part of an ongoing investigation working in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and other agencies, we cannot make any further comment at this time,” the IHRB's statement concluded.

According to racingpost.com, that yard was the operation of equine therapist John Warwick, and the DAFM confiscated from him animal medications not licensed for use in Ireland.

There are reported to have been four Thoroughbreds tested at the yard. Two arrived at the yard during the raid with trainer Liam Burke; one of those, Samos Island, was in that day at Fairyhouse but was withdrawn by the IHRB. Another arriving during the raid is trained by Ted Walsh, who said the horse had a tendon injury to be scanned. Jessica Harrington trains the last, which she said was to be receiving non-medical laser treatments on a tendon.

Horses Test Negative After Monasterevin Raid

All hair and blood samples taken during a raid of a Monasterevin, Co. Kildare farm on Nov. 9 have tested negative for “prohibited at all times substances”, according to a release from the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board. The raid-during which animal remedies banned for use in racehorses were seized-was carried out by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine acting on their own investigations and information received and with the support of the IHRB.

The IHRB's statement read, “the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board can today confirm that the hair and blood samples taken from horses at a premises near Monasterevin, County Kildare, on 9th November 2021 have been analysed at LGC laboratories and reported negative for prohibited at all times substances. As this is part of an ongoing investigation working in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and other agencies, we cannot make any further comment at this time.”

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Ireland: Banned Substances Seized At Equine Therapy Operation, Two Trainers Caught Up In Investigation

Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, acting on their own investigations and information received, seized a number of substances banned for use in racehorses in Monasterevin, County Kildare on Tuesday, reports racingpost.com.

The location is reported to be the operation of a widely-used equine therapy practitioner, who was not identified. Both Thoroughbreds and sport horses were on site during Tuesday's raid.

The DAFM had four representatives on site, with three gardai, and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board later sent four representatives to the location as well. The IHRB elected to take hair and blood samples from two licensed trainers whose horses were on the premises, but both trainers reportedly believe themselves to be inadvertently caught up in the situation and innocent of any wrongdoing.

A statement from the DAFM read: “On Tuesday ,Nov. 9, 2021, authorized officers acting on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine carried out an enforcement operation supported by Gardai attached to the Kildare/Laois drug unit and officers from the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board. This Department-led operation involved searches and seizure of products as part of an ongoing investigation into equine doping. As this is an ongoing investigation, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this time.”