IHRB

Trainer Charles Byrnes was hit with a massive €6,000 fine under the non-triers' rule following the running of Ellaat (GB) (Heeraat {Ire}) in a low-grade handicap on the Flat at Gowran Park on Wednesday evening. He was found to have breached the Rule 212A (i) by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) stewards who also slapped his jockey Gearoid Brouder with a 21-day suspension. Ellaat was also banned from running for 90 days. It is not the first time the multiple Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer has felt the wrath of Irish...

Official Starter for the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, Joe Banahan is hugely passionate about breeding, and from a small but select broodmare band, his family have enjoyed notable success on the Flat from their Moortown House Stud base near Navan. Joe's parents Percy and Elaine have recently passed away but, along with his wife Edel, he has carried on the proud family tradition in breeding. In this week's Starfield Stud-sponsored Q&A, Banahan, a former jockey, reveals how he became infatuated with breeding, what he aims to achieve from Moortown House...

Trainer Ronan McNally has been disqualified from Irish racing for 12 years, charged €50,000 in costs and ordered to return over €13,000 in prize-money after being found guilty of multiple sanctions by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board.  McNally was found to have conspired with fellow trainer David Dunne to conceal his ownership of Full Noise and All Class, for which, Dunne has been hit with a two-year ban for bringing racing into disrepute.  Dunne was also handed a €5,000 fine and ordered to forfeit his prize-money which was deemed to...

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board has issued an apology to trainer Paddy Twomey, jockey Wayne Lordan and owner Robert Moran over an error to the weighing out process of Rosscarbery (Ger) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) that led to the filly being disqualified from finishing third in the G1 Pretty Polly S. at the Curragh back in June. Rosscarbery justified Twomey's decision to supplement at a cost of €30,000 for that Group 1 contest when running a gallant third behind stablemate La Petite Coco (Ire) (Ruler Of The World).  However, she...

The initial session of Irish EBF Barrier Trials gets underway July 5 at Dundalk Stadium. Beginning at 1p.m. (local time), a total of 10 Trials are scheduled, comprised of tests for unraced 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds over five-seven furlongs. Operated by Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM) and backed by Irish EBF and the IHRB, Trials are principally serve as formative trials for inexperienced horses. Notable Trial graduates include G1 Al Quoz Sprint winner A Case Of You (Ire) and G3 Gordon S. scorer Ottoman Emperor (Ire). Trials are available to view on...

Entries are open for Irish EBF Barrier Trials at Dundalk Stadium, to be held Tuesday, July 5, beginning at noon (local time). Operated by Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM) and backed by Irish EBF and the IHRB, Trials are open to unraced 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds and are run over five to seven furlongs. Trials, principally staged to offer a platform for unraced Irish Thoroughbreds, also serve as a learning experience for inexperienced horses. Notable Trial graduates include Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint winner A Case Of You (Ire) and Group 3...

Paddy Twomey has admitted that the disqualification of Rosscarbery (Ger) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) from third spot in Sunday's Alwasmiyah Pretty Polly S. after her rider Wayne Lordan weighed in 5lbs light took the gloss off the fact that he recorded his first Group 1 success in the race with La Petite Coco (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}). The trainer described himself as "disappointed and upset" that Rosscarbery, supplemented for the Curragh Group 1 at a cost of €30,000 to the filly's owner Robert Moran, missed out on prize-money...

Citing an inability to support three days of racing per week, Hawthorne Race Course asked for and received permission from the Illinois Racing Board (IRB) to drop the remaining five Sundays from its current Thoroughbred meet that runs through June 25. This is the first season in recent Illinois history with the scheduled-to-be-sold Arlington International Racecourse not running a summer meet, which has led to a thinned horse population this spring at Hawthorne. The Hawthorne season started Apr. 2 with just Saturday and Sunday racing. Fridays were added May 6,...

Trainer Kieran Cotter was fined €27,500 by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board Referrals Committee and must pay a further €7,500 in legal costs. One of his runners, Slade Runner (Ire) (Slade Power {Ire}), tested positive for cobalt and the IHRB found further misconduct by the trainer following a yard inspection. Slade Runner won a Dundalk handicap in January and returned a cobalt reading higher than the international threshold. After the cobalt positive, there was a joint inspection of Cotter's yard by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM) and...

Darragh O'Loughlin has been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB). O'Loughlin will begin serving in his new role on June 29. Previously, O'Loughlin was the Secretary General of the Irish Pharmacy Union from 2013 until April of this year. He also served as a Council Member of the PSI (The Pharmacy Regulator) for six years and was a board member of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). Martin O'Donnell, Chairman of the IHRB, said, "Darragh brings an exceptional combination of regulatory expertise...

A report on horseracing in Ireland found no evidence that doping regulations fall below international standards. The report, made by the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee, was prompted by allegations from trainer Jim Bolger that drugs are Irish racing's top problem. However, the report did make 11 recommendations, including that favourites and the top five finishers of each race be mandatorily tested via hair samples, as well as for random testing to occur. Another recommendation was for a review into the composition of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), to address concerns...

Entries for the Sept. 13 Irish EBF Barrier Trials close at 5 p.m. local time on Sept. 6, Irish Thoroughbred Marketing announced on Sunday. The final day of barrier trials of the 2021 season, the Dundalk-based event, which begins at 12 p.m., is operated by ITM and backed by the Irish EBF and the IHRB. Open to unraced 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds, the barrier trials are conducted over five, six and seven furlongs. Recent graduates of the Irish EBF Barrier Trials are G3 Gordon S. scorer Ottoman Emperor (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire})...