The IHRA has received confirmation of further funding through Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine’s Equine Technical Support & Equine Breeding Schemes Project for 2020. The total funding received by the Department is €35,146 for specific projects outlined in our submissions earlier this year. 
The first of which is the upgrading of our current IHRA website to encompass new features such as access for our members to our studbook, a results database incorporating our Lynx photo-finish software and an online payments page for race entries and stakes races.
The IHRA also received funding towards the RDS Dublin Horse Show Information stand. The show, this year in July, allows the IHRA to promote the sport and our breed to a wider audience and has been very successful for the industry since we joined the tradeshow arena with our fellow Horse Sport Ireland affiliates.
The largest part of funding is towards integrity of the sport, with €28,420 being allocated by DAFM, and added to our original spend for this sector, gives the Integrity & Welfare Committee a budget of €55,000 for the forthcoming season. As part of this budget, the IWC, intends to increase the number of post samples to over 300 and pre samples to 400 and all confirmatory analysis of samples will be sent to LCH in Paris. Further to race day pre and post integrity sampling, the IWC will expand on their testing procedures into the out of competition testing sector of the sport. This will involve the visit of IHRA stewards and a veterinary surgeon to carry out tests and inspect the animals onsite, in several licenced premises on a random basis. This will help ensure that all mares and stallions are consistently performing on their own merits outside of the racetrack and will uphold their standards at the racetrack also. The WTA (World Trotting Association), with which the Irish Harness Racing Association is a member have vowed to increase the number of out of competition testing and it is the Irish Harness Racing Association’s ambition from 2020 to deliver on this pledge and uphold the international agreement taken on these tests.
This increase in our integrity budget will provide stability and grow confidence in our breed. It will allow for more stallions to stand at stud, more mares to be covered and more foals and yearlings being born and more horses to be trained. It will help protect our sport and our horse for future generations going forward.
