The chief executive of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board has said the organisation in charge of policing Irish racing needs to “sharpen up” in relation to processing positive drug cases.
The results of two hearings into positive tests in races going back to October 2024 were only published last week.
The veteran sprinter Art Of Unity was disqualified from first place in a Curragh handicap in October 2024 after a positive test for cobalt when in the care of trainer Murdeach Kelly. Fines totalling €2,500 were imposed on Kelly.
Trainer Michael Flannery was fined a total of €3,750 after his runner Bowgate Street won a handicap hurdle at Sligo in October of 2024. The horse tested positive for the anti-inflammatories, meloxicam and diclofenac.
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The length of time taken in prohibited substance cases is a regular source of criticism for the IHRB and its CEO Darragh O’Loughlin has pointed to a lack of resources and particularly staff illness last year as a contributory factor.
“Do they need to take that long? I would say no. We need to sharpen up and have revised our procedures with defined decision dates. We need timelines within the process from getting the lab result and confirming the lab result, through to the investigation, preparation papers and the hearing,
“If we rush it, we’ll be told that’s not fair, because not enough time is given to prepare a defence. That said, over the course of 2025 we fell behind in how we processed cases and we have recently been seeing cases where the sample was taken in late 2024 just coming to hearing. It is longer than it should take,” he told the Irish Field.
O’Loughlin also conceded that the IHRB is in an “anomalous situation” in getting most of its funding through Horse Racing Ireland and said a €500,000 increase from HRI for integrity services in their 2026 budget doesn’t necessarily mean a larger allocation to the IHRB.
“All of HRI’s integrity spending is not for the IHRB. They provide some direct integrity services and fund stall handlers, integrity cameras, the cameras that feed into the television system that the stewards us,” he commented.
In broader terms O’Loughlin pointed to the IHRB’s role in maintaining popular and political support for racing and the need for investment to do so.
“One of our key areas is to assure public trust in horse racing, in the sport and in the industry, so that we reduce the threat of it being politically popular, if you like, to reduce funding. Politicians in a democracy such as ours are in tune with the base. As long as the base enjoys racing or is willing to tolerate it, they will continue to fund it,” he said.
Government funding to horse racing this year is unchanged from 2025 at €79.3 million. Integrity funding is €17.8 million. An independent Indecon report submitted to the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee in November recommended that the share of the Horse & Greyhound Fund for welfare and integrity purposes should be “ring-fenced” and increased in the medium term.
