As the curtain came down on the 2020 racing season last Sunday, 6th December at Portmarnock Raceway, the IHRA would like to thank all our members who have made the 2020 season such a success despite the worldwide pandemic of Covid-19 as a background.
We would like to sincerely thank all our trainers, drivers, owners, race day stewards, starters, veterinary staff, commentators, track maintenance personnel, security staff, broadcasting staff, medical personnel & bookmakers in all three jurisdictions as well as the race day committee’s who ran their annual fixtures behind closed doors;
The Red John Memorial at Lyre in August, with the continuous generous sponsorship of Bill Donovan, M50 Skip Hire & Recycling Weekend sponsored by Brian Redmond in October, the All Ireland Trot & Pace Series sponsored by Red Mills, the Liam Carlin Memorial Trot sponsored by Dan Carlin and the Annual IHRA Ladies Day in September sponsored this year by Black Horse which incorporated the very first Bernie Kelly Memorial Pace. This feature race was sponsored by family and friends of our late secretary, as was the last feature race meeting, the inaugural Jack Galway & Gerry Keenan Memorial Race day.
We would like to thank all landowners at this time: Clive Richardson, Ger Hegarty, Ballabhuidhe Race Committee & Derry Mc Carthy for the use of Annaghmore Raceway, Lyre, Dromaleena Lawn & Bishoplands respectively.
In addition, we would like to thank the Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine, and the local Garda Siochana divisions for their support to allow Irish Harness racing to continue throughout the 5 varying stages of lockdown.
We would like to acknowledge all our members who abided by our protocols during this season and we especially thank all our supporters who would normally attend our fixtures for staying at home and following the races from the comfort of their homes and using the online platform to stay up to date with all the action.
Despite Covid-19 and all its restrictions this season, our prizemoney throughout the year has increased on last year, despite losing some significant fixtures from March to June inclusive. In the condensed season that 2020 was, the IHRA ran 330 races, where the total record prizemoney for the association was a staggering €801,976, of which the regional breakdown of prizemoney was €141,495 for Annaghmore, €479,568 for Portmarnock & €180,913 for Cork.
Another milestone during 2020 was the increase in the integrity spend to €50,000 from June 29th to December 6th. This spend saw increases in post and pre integrity tests, as well setting up a veterinary rota for all fixtures in all three jurisdictions.
Whilst the season has come to an end and Christmas is nearly upon us, we are looking forward to our 2021 season getting underway already with preparations in full swing in the organising of our juvenile races, premium festivals, and the completion of the 2020 fixture list.
For now, we all can take a well-deserved break from racing but at the same time watch some of our home bred three-year-old trotters in action in France over the coming months as well as keeping tabs on our pacing exports, who have gone to the US.
To conclude, the board of directors wish all our members a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous and healthy New Year to you and your family for the year ahead. We look forward to meeting everyone again in March 2021 for a bigger and better racing season to come.
