Industry leaders hail new approach to medical records

The best ideas are often the simple ones and two former students of Trinity College Dublin look set to revolutionise the way trainers and breeders take account of medical records with their technological approach to the often laborious practice.

Pierce Dargan and Simon Hillary are the brains behind Equine MediRecord and hope to digitise the medical regulatory records of racehorses in Ireland.

The new company sells and maintains the mobile application and website that provides proper and timely recordings of the various medicines and vaccinations administered to each racehorse.

Such data has up until this point been transcribed by hand into log books that can become damaged or lost, and this new less time-consuming process has received praise from many industry leaders, including Michael Grassick, chief executive of the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association.

He said: "From the first conversation with Pierce and Simon I always felt it was a good idea. With more regulations from the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board regarding medical record books it is imperative we keep records up to date.

"Using Equine MediRecord solves these problems. It gives you added security and peace of mind."

Dargan, chief executive of the company, said: "Our system has been well received and is already in use by trainers and vets, and it has been deemed an acceptable alternative by racing regulators.

"It's easy to use and keep up to date, provides vital information to trainers and allows technology to assist in horse welfare."

Equine MediRecord has already won a number of awards and competitions since the start-up graduated from LaunchBox, including two recent successes at the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association Expo.

Legendary trainer John Oxx also gave the technology the seal of approval and said: "Congratulations to Pierce and Simon on their great achievement in winning most innovative initiative serving the thoroughbred industry and being awarded the overall winner of best start-up serving the thoroughbred industry at the ITBA Expo 2018.

"Their idea is innovative, useful and will be a great asset for all those striving to keep and share accurate records."

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