HRI "key priority" to get owners back racing

Horse racing in Ireland is back up and running with the first Irish classics of the season, the Tattersalls 2000 and 1000 Guineas, taking place this Friday and Saturday at the Curragh.

Horse Racing Ireland Chairman, Nicky Hartery, says that owners are a hugely important part of the industry. Even though they cannot see their horses in action in the flesh as racing is behind closed doors at present, HRI are hopeful that owners can return to the racecourse shortly.

“Owners really are the backbone of the industry,” said Hartery.

“They’re the ones who provide the funding, much of the funding anyway, that goes into the industry.

“You would love to have owners going racing. I looked at some of the racing, the Classics at the weekend in the UK — no owners either — so it’s a key priority for us here in HRI to get the owners back as soon as possible.

“We will continue to work with the department, and the department of health, and when that’s possible we will certainly get them back as soon as we can.

“We had a window where there was no activity but as we’ve seen with the programmes we’ve brought back in HRI, the whole object is to play catch-up in a proper way.

“In that we can have more racing for the last seven months of the year than was the original plan so everyone gets the opportunity before the year is finished.”