Suzanne Eade

Horse Racing Ireland chief Suzanne Eade says the figures posted in 2023 in relation to on-course betting, commercial sponsorship and public auction bloodstock sales points to a solid year for the industry as a whole in Ireland.  However, in the full-year statistics released by HRI on Thursday, it showed that the total number of active owners in Ireland has fallen by 1.2% to 4,698 and racecourse attendance figures have also dipped compared to the numbers posted in 2022.  Total on-course betting, including Tote, rose to €80.5m in 2023, an increase...

A partnership to encourage international initiatives and working practices between the Japanese and British and Irish horseracing industries was announced by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and Japan Racing Association (JRA) on Friday. The creation of the Joint Cooperation Committee is to serve as a formal platform for members within the British and Irish horseracing industries to engage with their counterparts in Japan via the JRA. It will consist of agreed representatives from key shareholders in the respective territories including the BHA, HRI, Racecourse Media Group...

Horse Racing Ireland boss Suzanne Eade says the industry is facing into a period of uncertainty in relation to gambling regulation and described integrity and equine welfare as "crucial areas" for investment in announcing the budget for 2024.  Prize-money is an area that HRI have concentrated on and will be increased by €1.3m to €69.4m while a record 395 fixtures will be staged. However, while owners have "a record number of opportunities" to look forward to with their horses in 2024, administration fees are set to rise.  Eade said, "The...

Involved since the organisation's founding in 1991, Goffs Chairman Eimear Mulhern will step down from the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Committee, it was announced Thursday. At Goffs Thursday, Mulhern was presented with a memento from HRI CEO Suzanne Eade, HRI Director of Bloodstock and Equine Welfare John Osborne, and ITM Chairman Dermot Cantillon. A joint statement read, "All at ITM and HRI offer Eimear their sincere thanks for her many years of dedicated service to the Irish industry."

Horse Racing Ireland boss Suzanne Eade has put attendance figures towards the top of her priority list for the remainder of 2023 and hailed the resilience of owners against the backdrop of the cost of living crisis as the six-month statistics were revealed on Thursday.  Attendances have climbed 7.6% to 544,147 for the first six months of the year while sponsorship rose 4.8% to €4.4m with horses winning overall prize money of €30.6m. That is up 1% on last year's corresponding figures, despite a reduction in the number of race...

Starting in 2024, all 26 Irish Racecourses will have live in-race timing information for all races broadcast on-screen and published online, the Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR), Sports Information Services (SIS) and Racecourse Media Group (RMG) announced on Friday. The feature is part of the recently concluded media rights renewal between the organizations. The system is operated by RMG's timing partners, Coursetrack. Runners will carry lightweight GPS trackers designed to fit within the saddlecloths and transmit data directly to a centralised operation at Racing TV's London...

Cancer Trials Ireland, the national organisation dedicated to advancing cancer clinical trials, will create a new position to anchor expertise in pancreatic research in Ireland with the ambition of creating a global centre for treatment and research for a form of cancer with some of the poorest outcomes--the Pat Smullen Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at University College Dublin. The position will require shared time between clinical work as a treating physician at St Vincent's University Hospital--the national surgical centre for pancreatic cancer--and research work at University College Dublin (UCD). Candidates...

The new media rights arrangements for 21 of the 26 Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR) was unanimously approved by the Board of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) on Friday. This new agreement is for a period of five years beginning in 2024.The HRI Board welcomed the unanimous approval of the AIR Board for this deal and the authorisation for AIR to conclude contractual arrangements for 21 of its 26 member racecourses. The completion of the sale of the media rights for 21 racecourses as well as HRI's data rights for all...

Suzanne Eade, chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland, has once again prioritised prize-money in the budget with €68.6m set to be on offer across 390 fixtures in 2023. That represents a 2.5% rise on the pot that was on offer in 2022 while HRI also announced several other key industry supports and a contribution of over €1m to other initiatives on Wednesday. Integrity funding is set to increase to €15.9m (+3%) while the 2023 Budget provides for investment in equine welfare activities and welfare related grant funding of €2.7m, the...

Fewer horses in training, a drop in active owners and falling attendances were reported by Horse Racing Ireland in the six-month Irish Thoroughbred Racing Industry Statistics, which were released on Thursday.  Attendances for the first half of 2022 were down 9% on 2019 levels while on-course bookmakers reduced by 10.3% and Tote Ireland turnover was down a further 12.8%. However, bloodstock sales in Ireland at public auction continue to thrive, with the figures for the first six months up 31% to the most comparable recent figure of 2019.  There were...

Roger Casey, a chartered accountant who has been with Tattersalls Ireland for 14 years, will join Horse Racing Ireland as Group Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Suzanne Eade, who has moved into the role of chief executive officer. Casey is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland, a member of the Institute of Directors in Ireland, and brings international commercial experience to the role having worked with Marsh McClennan; KPMG in Toronto and Dublin; and Deloitte in Dublin. Eade said, "I look forward to working with Roger, who brings significant financial expertise...