New harness racing database for Ireland & Britain

Kildare, IE – October 12th 2021 – A new harness racing database has been announced to be built to help professionalize the standardbred industry in both Britain and Ireland.

This new database which will be built for use by both the Irish Harness Racing Association and the British Harness Racing Club (BHRC) by leading equine software company Equine MediRecord, based on the Curragh in Kildare, will capture the details of participants including owners, trainers and drivers, but also all standardbred horses competing in both countries.

This system will help with not only the day to day running of the sport but also increase traceability and transparency of the horses involved.

This new database will allow for information from both jurisdictions to more easily be shared with partner organizations in Europe and North America as British and Irish standardbred horses are more frequently competing at the highest level overseas. This is best illustrated by the three year old filly Oakwood Annabella. who raced in the $250,000 Jugette at Delaware Ohio, finishing third in the Jugette Final this past month.

The BHRC is the governing body for Harness Racing in Great Britain and a member of the International Trotting Association. The Irish Harness Racing Association (IHRA) is the internationally recognized governing body of harness racing in Ireland.

The IHRA is a member of the Union of European Trotting (UET) and International Trotting Association. The IHRA works closely with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (in Dublin). Both organizations look to develop the sport both domestically and internationally.

Darren Owen, Chairman of the BHRC said, “The British Harness Racing Club are delighted to be utilizing the services of Equine MediRecord, this will be of a great benefit to the administration of the sport in Great Britain and will ensure the license holders will receive a group 1 service from a world renowned leader in the equine sporting industry. With our colleagues at the IHRA embracing the same project, this will enable our two countries to work closer together as we continue to govern and promote harness racing in our islands“.

Mark Flanagan, Chairman of the IHRA said, “The Irish Harness Racing Association is excited to extend our services provided by Equine MediRecord and the new database they will provide to our association. We know that it is critical to have the relevant data about our races easily available as we continue to professionalize our sport in Ireland and with the plans of establishing our own tote. Working with the BHRC on this project will help us to promote the sport of harness racing across our islands while also ensuring we become a world leader in transparency, integrity and equine welfare “

Pierce Dargan, CEO of Equine MediRecord stated, “We are happy the BHRC and IHRA decided to partner with us for this project and we hope this will be the beginning of meaningful change that helps improve outcomes for horses and the Standarbed industry as a whole in the UK and Ireland.”

Equine MediRecord is the global leader in equine anti-doping and horse welfare software. It currently operates in Ireland, the UK, France and the United States with well known clients like the Breeders Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred Owners of California and Arabian Racing Organization.

Equine MediRecord is a client of the Local Enterprise Office Kildare and has represented Kildare in the National Final for Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur Competition.

For more information about Equine MediRecord, click here.

From Equine MediRecord