Irish owners waiting on HRI before lobbying politicians over fears surrounding controversial Gambling Bill

Irish owners are "anxiously waiting" for direction from Horse Racing Ireland before deciding their next step in the Gambling Regulation Bill saga.

Regina Byrne, the general manager of the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners (AIRO), said a letter which was due to be sent out to politicians outlining the fears of Irish owners has not been delivered yet as they are awaiting instructions from HRI. 

Byrne said she has been inundated with calls from worried owners concerned they will not be able to watch their own horses running due to a proposed watershed that would prevent gambling advertising between 5.30am and 9pm. Racing TV and Sky Sports Racing have both said an inability to show bookmakers' ads will render their capacity to operate in the Irish market unviable.

The matter was discussed at a HRI board meeting on Monday and Byrne believes alternatives are being looked into to ensure Irish racing remains on television screens. 

She said: "I believe that HRI are looking for alternatives. It [the letter that is due to go out to politicians] hasn't gone out yet. We are waiting to see what solutions they [HRI] come up with and try to reinforce that.

"I have a considerable number of owners on to me every week who are very concerned. It's the first topic of conversation everywhere you go now. I'd love to be able to get our members to support whatever the industry decides is the best way to move forward. I'm anxiously waiting for that."

"We're concerned that racing might be taken off air"Credit: Patrick McCann

Byrne's main concern is the retention of owners and she fears a blackout of pictures could have huge consequences. She said: "The more you look into it the more you realise it is a worthy piece of legislation, there is no doubt about that, but, from our perspective it is a concern. We're concerned that racing might be taken off air. 

"We're worried about the retention of owners. We all know that they invest highly. I know the figures in the last HRI report said it was about €264 million, but we would probably say it is in excess of that each year to train horses. That is going back in and supporting 30,000 jobs."

She added: "Most of our owners all have jobs, this is their already taxed disposable income that they are using. Most of them are in jobs and they rely heavily on being able to watch the races their horses are running in. 

"From a human point of view you can't take away the fact that addiction is a serious problem and it does affect vulnerable people in society. And, you do have to have a lot of consideration and empathy for people who are involved in that. You have to be empathetic, but I think it's terribly concerning that an industry which is worth so much to the exchequer could be harmed because of the unintended consequences of it."

When asked whether she shared the frustration of owners who feel it is a case of too little too late with regard to lobbying politicians, she replied: "I would a bit, yes. It's concerning that we're a little bit late to the party. It would have been nicer if the stakeholders had been involved a bit earlier and we could have helped out an awful lot more but we are where we are. We have to see what we can do and see what is best going forward.

"We will do everything in our power. We will do our very best."

Read these next:

'There will be a big black market boom' - Willie Mullins opens up about the Gambling Regulation Bill 

Banning betting ads on racing channels would be a futile experiment that could savage the sport 

'It will be a disaster' - Ted Walsh fears for future of the sport in Ireland if gambling ads are banned on racing channels 

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