ATTENDED BY DELEGATES OF IRISH HARNESS RACING ASSOCIATION CLG, MARK FLANAGAN, JAMES O’SULLIVAN AND NADINA ZAVADILIKA
The World Trotting Conference 2019 held in Sweden between 29th May 2019-31st May 2019, was a huge success for the Irish Harness Racing Association.
The whole event was very well organised and provided us with a very good insight into how to organise such an event should the case arise in the future.
The week-long event which seen the four committees of the International Trotting Association (ITA) meet twice to discuss very important issues relevant to our industry: –
Breeding Committee
Integrity & Welfare Committee
Marketing Committee
Betting & Totaliser Committee
The IHRA had representatives on each committee.
As well as the working committees we had the Constitution Committee where each country can only have one member.
Each morning we had multiple presentations. These provided all the delegates with an abundance of ideas and this was definitely the case. We are very much at a starting point in Ireland with regard to building a Trotting Industry and we believe this will provide us with fresh ideas and challenge us in what we take for granted in many areas.
We attended some racetracks and one in particular was of great interest to us. They have just formed a partnership with the Horse Sport Industry and have built two outstanding Jumping arenas inside of the existing Trotting Track. Not only has this provided extra revenue for the race track but also has added to the social benefits of the local and surrounding area.
