Covid pandemic blamed for delay in rollout of Irish anti-doping inspections

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board has cited Covid-19-related delays to the training of officers as a contributing factor in the stalled implementation of inspections at unlicensed premises.

Irish racing's fight against anti-doping was boosted last August when the IHRB was given the power by the government to investigate unlicensed premises such as stud farms and pre-training establishments.

The finalisation of protocols with the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association, which insisted late last year it has not been stalling on the matter, and the major sales houses are understood to be ongoing. But the IHRB has said it will be in a position to carry out testing on unlicensed premises once staff are trained, with remote training being deployed to speed up the process.

A 24-hour notice period is set to be in place for testing at these locations.

The procedures, originally expected to begin in the second half of 2019, stemmed from the IHRB's industry-wide anti-doping agreement that had been approved unanimously by the board of Horse Racing Ireland in July 2018.

Speaking a day on from the announcement of extended Covid-19 restrictions in Ireland, an IHRB spokesperson told the Racing Post: "The protocols won't delay the operation. Once we have the people trained as officers, we'll be ready to commence testing.

"The training of officers was delayed due to the current restrictions in place with the pandemic. Now that it's become clearer that those restrictions are going to be in place until at least March 5, we've instigated that the training will take place remotely."

As to when an overall rollout could take place, the spokeperson added: "We can't put a timeframe on it at the moment but training has commenced remotely.

"In terms of staffing, we'll be drawing on the expertise of our own team and will continue to collaborate with the department as we currently do at the moment. Any modern anti-doping strategy at the moment is based upon a combination of random, risk-based and intelligence tests."

Brian Kavanagh: logistical issues around unannounced testingCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

The controversial move to provide unlicensed premises a day's notice prior to inspections has previously been described by IHRB chief executive Denis Egan as "less than ideal", but HRI boss Brian Kavanagh cited logistical issues around unannounced testing at unlicensed locations when the agreement was first announced.

There is a provision to liaise with department officials to make unannounced inspections on the basis of intelligence, but routine out-of-competition testing will involve 24 hours’ notice.

"That's a red herring," Kavanagh said of the notice period back in July 2018. "If you've got foals on your farm and they are to be tested, there is a practicality issue in terms of bringing the foals in or having people there."

In Britain horses have to be registered within 30 days of foaling and the BHA has access to them wherever they are based. It is also a requirement the BHA is updated on their whereabouts.

The BHA can show up unannounced at a non-licensed venue and if not allowed access could in theory take action against the responsible person.

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