AIRO Chairman calls for more prizemoney at AGM

AIRO aka the Irish Owners Association held their AGM at ITBA headquarters on Thursday evening last.  David Hyland was re-elected as Chairman while the Vice-Chairman seat remains with Caren Walsh.  John Connolly, John Weld and Sandra Fox were re-elected to the board and accounts pertaining to the year ended 31st December, 2024 were discussed and analysed.
 
Chairman David Hyland who has horses in training with a number of trainers in Ireland highlighted and thanked the management and board of AIRO for their continuous hard work but issued a stark warning to the industry on the number of owners leaving the sport and highlighted the root cause of this exodus being prizemoney levels.  Here is an extract from his speech outlining his and Owners concerns:
 
There are a number of issues affecting our industry that I feel we must address...
 
Prize-Money – We spoke about this last year and it is still the most essential and most worrying issue affecting Irish Racing at present.  We have written in on numerous occasions and lobbied continually about prize-money and were heartened when HRI announced a slight increase in the mid sections earlier this year, but I’m afraid it does not go far enough to balance the exponential rise in costs that is being felt by every owner.  
 
The 2024 HRI factbook states that Owners continue to contribute 25% of the prize-money pot, the largest owners contribution in any racing jurisdiction worldwide.  In fact, the owners contributions to prizemoney have risen from 22% pre-covid in 2018 to 25% for the last two year whereas  the contribution from HRI to prizemoney in 2024 was €92,000 less than its pre-covid contribution in 2019.  On a more positive light, The Curragh has increased its’ prizemoney contributions again this year and Leopardstown racecourse have decided to boost the prize-money values by €271,000 for 2025, which are very grateful for and hope that many of the remaining tracks will follow suit.
 
Retention of Owners – This leads me on to our next point which we are gravely concerned about, owner retention.  This is an area that we feel needs a lot of attention as we can see a lot of owners dropping off due to the spiralling training costs and ever-increasing owner charges and expenses.  From looking at the decline in our own membership numbers and discussions with trainers and other industry stakeholders, owners are leaving the industry in their droves.  Considering the current economic downturn, inflation, cost of living increases and threats of impending tariffs, disposable income available to spend on luxury items such as horses is reducing considerably.  
 
This exodus of owners has the potential to pose a huge knock-on effect on our entire industry. 
Trainers:- there are reports of growing numbers of empty stables in many trainers facilities right across the country especially in smaller trainers yards, Owners are not just moving stables, they are getting out of the game.
Stable Staff:-  With less horses in training, the number of people working in the industry will fall as trainers will no longer require or be economically viable enough to employ staff.
Jockeys:- Less opportunities for jockey’s at all levels as number of horses in training will be reduced.
Breeders/Stallion Farms:- The Breeders will find there is a reduced market at sales for their stock.  Already there are rumours this year that coverings are down considerably and according to the HRI factbook 2024, foal numbers have been reducing year on year which is as a result of increasing costs and breeders becoming more selective in which mares to consider covering.
Sales Companies:-  the knock on for sales companies is that they could see a reduction in orders to trainers from owners here at home.
Racecourses:- HRI most recent factbook 2024 shows a continual downward spiral on number of entries from 2021 to 2024 in both codes flat and national hunt which is a worrying statistic and attendance figures will also be effected on the non-festival industry days with this continuing trend of departing owners.
Betting:- A drop in ownership will also have a negative effect on betting which could have serious implications as the current media rights deal for racecourses which is reliant on betting turnover for funding.
Welfare:- If owners are falling off, what happens to the horses in their care?  While we are all aware of our responsibilities as owners are there enough facilities within the country to adequately meet this growing demand? I fear the answer to that question is no…
TREO EILE are doing a good job to provide a platform for retraining and rehoming ex-racehorses and according to Governments Paddy Wall Report on welfare and updated reports from HRI a new location for an new abattoir has not yet been decided. 
 
These are some of the sectors that will be directly affected, but this does not include feed companies, veterinary practices, farriers, even local pubs & restaurants and other secondary businesses that will be indirectly affected if this problem is not addressed immediately.
 
We implore the HRI leadership, board and senior management to critically look at expenditure and to prioritise prizemoney before it’s too late.  While acknowledging the funding we get from Government includes capital development requirements, surely it makes far more sense to concentrate on ensuring the survival of the horse racing & breeding industries rather than expanding an already full workforce or funding huge developments at racecourses while the foundations at the grassroots level are crumbling.  We appreciate that these capital developments projects are all worthwhile but at this juncture and in the current economic climate, it is essential that a larger percentage of the Government fund be allocated to prizemoney which would be far more beneficial to the whole industry. Ireland is a world leader in this industry and we want to ensure we continue to positively contribute to the Irish economy and exchequer.  It is imperative that we make prizemoney much more attractive to not only to attract in new owners and more importantly to retain our current Owners but also to ensure the positive effect from the prizemoney trickles down to all 30,000 people who are relying on it to sustain their employment.
 
Prizemoney is key to ensuring that owners remain in the game and we as an industry need to work quickly and cohesively to rectify this situation before it becomes a bigger problem, as we now have the chance to stop this exodus.  Direct foreign investment is another area for concern, the reason many national hunt owners have their horses trained in Ireland was directly linked to our competitive levels of prizemoney.  The same is true in Flat racing - international owners were happy to race in Ireland because of reasonable prizemoney (better than the UK) and good quality racing.  We are now seeing horses moved to the UK, USA and Australia as well as other jurisdictions where prizemoney has improved while ours has stagnated or dropped.  This isn’t an argument based around making owning racehorses a profit making business.  But prizemoney levels need to be comparable with our competitors in order for the entire Irish industry - breeding and racing to remain viable. 
 
 
It is not my intention to be negative as I believe that this is a magnificent industry and we as a group in AIRO are always supportive and will continue to work positively with all stakeholders.  We acknowledge all the great work that HRI and every racing entity is putting into the game but we need to refocus our efforts to intentionally ensure that the racing and breeding industries in this country continues to grow and flourish.
  
AIRO is here for Owners and I’d like to encourage all owners to get involved.  Owners should know that third party liability insurance is included in our membership.  We have an open-door policy and owners are invited to call in or phone the office should they wish to get further information.  I want to thank our board of directors for their time and efforts, it is so important to remember that these individuals all have very busy lives and despite their extremely hectic schedules, they make voluntary time for the sake of you, the Irish Owners.