Strong support for 30-day foal notifications in Ireland

The new 30-day thoroughbred foal notification system, introduced in Ireland this spring, has already achieved 75 per cent compliance, an indication of strong support for the new measure which matches the year-one compliance for a similar initiative in Britain.

John Osborne, spokesperson for Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), said: "There's a worldwide acceptance for the need for whole-of-life traceability of horses, because this allows for assurance on both the care and welfare of horses, as well as the certainty that all racehorses can be proven to be 'clean' in the anti-doping sense."

It was this consensus that led to the support of multiple industry bodies in introducing the 30-day notification procedures earlier this year. Led by HRI, the new system is administered on behalf of the industry by Weatherbys.

The 30-day notification system requires the breeder to notify Weatherbys of the birth of a foal within 30 days of birth, done through the submission of the blood sample and markings which are taken by the attending vet when the foal is microchipped. These procedures needed to happen previously - the only real change on the ground is timing.

"It's this small change in procedure that will improve our traceability of the horse," said Osborne. "We're creating systems which will eventually allow for a robust chain of responsibility to be known. In achieving this goal we can assure the standards of care are highest, ensuring that our horses can compete in all territories where these procedures are required."

"We're in discussions with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, updating on progress and assessing ways to make the process stronger. The signatories of the original agreement remain strongly supportive of this initiative and we're grateful to the breeders for helping us achieve such strong compliance in year one."

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