The activities carried out by HRI under its remit
to govern, develop, promote and administer the
sport cover a wide range of areas, the principal ones being:
Racing
Department
The Racing Department is responsible for the annual allocation of approximately 390 race fixtures to 26 Irish racecourses and the creation of all racing programmes.
The department has budgetary responsibility for annual prize-money distribution, including HRI's direct contribution and has control of the Racecourse Capital Development Programme.
The racecourse services provided by HRI including starting stalls, photo finish and the production of integrity pictures come under the Racing Department's remit. HRI negotiates media rights for racecourses and manages the contract for the production of sound and pictures from the track for use by broadcasters.
The Racing Department also has direct responsibility for the key areas of horse racing administration in Ireland. HRI maintain the Racing Administration System (RAS) which allows trainers, jockey's agents and owners' access online to carry out their day-to-day racing administration using mobile devices such as desktops, smartphones and tablets.
Betting
Division
The Betting Division licences
and regulates all on-course bookmakers.
Equine Welfare
The main aim of the Equine Welfare & Bloodstock Division is to maintain the high welfare standards in the Irish Thoroughbred industry and to create a mechanism whereby these standards can be verified and improved in line with evolving best practice in Ireland and abroad.
Marketing & Digital
The Marketing Department promotes
racing to the public through integrated national marketing campaigns. It
provides a dedicated marketing support service for individual racecourses
throughout the country providing marketing plan development, market research,
media planning, sponsorship support and event management services. It also
manages and promotes the HRI website and social media sites.
Communications
& Corporate Affairs
The Communications Department is responsible for internal and external corporate
communications, HRI’s press office and extensive event management, and is the direct point of contact
in Horse Racing Ireland for the Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
and other government departments and bodies.
The department is also responsible for HRI
publications including the Factbook, Annual Reports, Provisional Summaries,
Economic Reports and Strategic Plan.
HRI's
subsidiaries carry out distinct business functions:
- HRI Racecourses Limited owns and operates Fairyhouse, Leopardstown, Navan
and Tipperary Racecourses.
- Tote Ireland Limited operates Ireland's only pool betting system for horse racing. Tote operate betting services at all 26 racecourses in Ireland. All profits generated by Tote Ireland are returned to horse racing for the improvement of the industry. As well as operating a cash betting service at racecourses, Tote also distribute Irish racing pools internationally, meaning other Tote's and partners from around the world bet into Irish Tote pools. The Tote account offering is now operated in conjunction with the UK Tote through www.toteireland.ie
- Irish Thoroughbred Marketing is responsible for the promotion of the Irish
thoroughbred horse internationally. It is funded by both HRI and the Irish
bloodstock industry.