Insular world of Irish racing politics joins the modern age at last

A minor revolution is taking place in the traditionally insular world of Irish racing administration.

Angela Flanagan will become the first independent director of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, the former Turf Club, at the beginning of 2023. For once, experience of the industry, or immersion by accident of birth, have not been essential criteria for admission to one of the top tables of Irish racing.

Quite the opposite. The IHRB has explicitly sought out an appointee without a past or present connection to the racing and breeding industries, and without personal ties or close family connections to the sport and business – not an easy task in Ireland, where racing has a more pervasive presence in the nation's economic and social fabric than in any other major jurisdiction.