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Novice Definition

Notices

CCTV Privacy Notice

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (I.H.R.B) has statutory functions pursuant to Section 39 of the Irish Horseracing Industry Act 1994 (as amended) regarding the making and enforcing of the Rules of Racing and ensuring horses are run properly and fairly.

To this end the I.H.R.B are in the process of introducing CCTV to stable yards at racecourses. The CCTV cameras will be limited to public areas of the stable yards.

The purpose of the CCTV is to both deter and detect breaches of the Rules of Racing and malpractice in racing (e.g. doping, mistreatment of horses) and to deter and detect thefts of property from the stable yard area i.e. security reasons.

Where necessary the CCTV footage may be provided to relevant third parties such as Horse Racing Ireland, An Garda Síochána, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and bodies responsible for the regulation of horse racing in other countries. If for example, the CCTV footage discloses breaches of the Animal Remedies Regulations, such footage may be disclosed to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for the purposes of its statutory functions pursuant to the Animal Remedies Regulations.

The I.H.R.B shall employ a third party company to maintain the CCTV cameras. Such company shall not be entitled to nor shall have access to the footage. The I.H.R.B will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy. The I.H.R.B will use strict procedures and security features to prevent unauthorised access to the footage.

You have the right of access to information held about you. Your right can be exercised in accordance with the Data Protection Acts 1988-2003. Please note that the CCTV footage (unless required for one of the above purposes) is generally deleted after a period of three months and so may not be available. If you wish to request copies of your personal data in the form of CCTV footage, please provide the date, times and location for which you are requesting the data.

Claiming Races

Handicap Ratings

WTR Rankings

Statistics

Watering Policy For Racecourses

Watering of Racecourses

On occasions, it may be necessary for Clerks of the Courses to advise racecourse managers to irrigate the racecourse in an effort to stop the track from drying out.

Therefore, it is necessary that each racecourse has a ‘Target Going’ which it will aim to provide if the Clerk of the Course has advised that water be applied in advance of a racemeeting.

A racecourse’s ‘Target Going’ for a given meeting will depend on:

Whether a racemeeting is flat or national hunt or mixed
Whether a racemeeting is part of a multiday fixture (e.g. festival)
Racecourse characteristics - is racecourse tight/undulating or is it a ‘galloping’ track

The Clerk of the Course, in conjunction with the racecourse, will use their experience and local knowledge to estimate how much water will be required to achieve the ‘Target Going’ for a given meeting, and this decision will be influenced by:

Prevailing going description
Weather forecast, up to and including the duration of the racemeeting(s)
Soil characteristics – is the soil free draining or otherwise

The racecourse will aim to provide ground that is reflective of the ‘Target Going’ but given uncertain forecasts of rain, drying conditions and/or inaccurate forecasts, the racecourses, after consulting the Clerk of the Course, may use their discretion to adapt or alter the watering program as they deem appropriate. Also, for a mixed meeting or a multiday meeting using the same racing line for both NH and flat races, the racecourse and the Clerk of the Course will use their discretion when watering to achieve the most appropriate going for the racemeeting.

All ‘Target Goings’ have been agreed between the Clerks of the Courses, the racecourses involved, Irish Racehorse Trainers Association (IRTA) and Irish Jockeys Association (IJA).

Target Going through Watering

Racecourse	Target Going (NH)	Target Going (Flat)
Ballinrobe	Good	Good
Bellewstown	Good	Good / Good to Firm
Clonmel	Good	Good
Cork	Good	Good to Firm
Curragh	n/a	Good to Firm
Down Royal	Good	Good to Firm
Downpatrick	Good	n/a
Dundalk	n/a	n/a
Fairyhouse (Easter NH Festival)	Good Good to Yielding	Good to Firm
Galway	Good	Good
Gowran Park	Good	Good to Firm
Kilbeggan	Good	n/a
Killarney	Good	Good / Good to Firm in places
Laytown	n/a	n/a
Leopardstown	Good to Yielding	Good to Firm
Limerick	Good	Good to Firm
Listowel	Good	Good
Naas	Good	Good to Firm
Navan	Good	Good to Firm
Punchestown (NH Festival)	Good Good to Yielding	n/a
Roscommon	Good	Good to Firm
Sligo	Slow Side of Good	Slow Side of Good
Thurles	n/a	n/a
Tipperary	Good	Good to Firm
Tramore	Good	Good
Wexford	Good	n/a

Procedures for Watering Racecourses

1. The racecourse manager or authorised deputy (hereafter referred to as ‘the racecourse’) must liaise with the Clerk of the Course before watering commences, and a program agreed upon to achieve going reflective of the ‘Target Going’ on the raceday. It is the racecourses’ responsibility to carry out this watering program as advised by the Clerk of the Course.

2. The watering program agreed may commence as soon as the Clerk of the Course deems necessary and the racecourse must maintain a record of the watering applied on a daily basis.

3. Information on a racecourse’s watering program for a particular meeting will be communicated by the IHRB, once agreed upon by the Clerk of the Course.

4. If the racecourse thinks it necessary to deviate from an agreed program, they must firstly consult with, and get agreement from, the Clerk of the Course. The watering program may need to be changed or halted to reflect, for example, a change of weather forecast. All such decisions should be reached between the racecourse and the Clerk of the Course, uninfluenced by any other stakeholders. Any updated information on a watering program will be communicated by IHRB thereafter.

5. Ideally, if conditions allow, watering should not continue beyond 8 hours before the start of the meeting. However, particularly for evening meetings held on warm summer days, watering may continue at the discretion of the Clerk of the Course until such time as he deems appropriate.

6. Watering should not first commence within 24 hours of the starting time of the first race (with the exception of multi-day meetings), unless in limited, exceptional circumstances, where the Clerk of the Course is satisfied that to begin watering at this point in time is absolutely necessary and the surface has been spiked and/or aerated.

7. The Directors of IHRB emphasise the importance of spiking and/or aerating all race tracks at appropriate times during the year, whether water is being applied or not.

8. Watering should only be done by bulk tankers if no other system is available. If bulk tankers are used, careful supervision is necessary by the racecourse to avoid false patches of ground, and tankers should be fitted with a boom if possible to prevent soil compaction.

9. When watering takes place, and where possible, the racing area should be limited to that watered ground prepared for the race day, by the use of rails or dolls.

Penalty Guidelines

Statement of Strategy

Racecourse Manual