Trainers' association backs regulator's move to implement pre-race testing on a more selective basis

The Irish Racehorse Trainers Association (IRTA) says it fully supports the regulator's move to bring Irish racing into line with international best practice by implementing its pre-race testing regime on a selective rather than blanket basis.

Pre-race sampling, chiefly designed to screen for enhanced TCO2 levels, which are commonly associated with milkshaking, was finally initiated by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board in the autumn of 2021.

It had been persistently delayed by an insistence from the IRTA that a sample should be taken from every horse in a given race. For large fields, that presented significant logistical challenges for the IHRB's testing team, as the samples needed to be taken within a narrow 30-minute window between 75 and 45 minutes before race time.