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Idol Horse highlighted the travails of racing in Mauritius earlier this week and that disturbing saga emphasised the damage that occurs when integrity is no longer the bedrock of a sports body, when regulatory practices are not sound, nor protected by independence from invested parties.

That being so, the IFHA (International Federation of Horseracing Authorities) would do well to send a copy of its newly-published Racing Integrity Handbook directly to the racing regulators in the Indian Ocean island nation.

As the IFHA chairman Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges told attendees at the 58th International Conference of Horseracing Authorities; “Without the highest standards of integrity, our sport loses the trust and confidence of our customers and other key stakeholders, which then places the existence of our industry at stake. With recent events showing how pervasive integrity threats are nowadays, racing must continue to lead the way in protecting sports integrity.”

The handbook was unveiled at the annual conference, which was held at Saint-Cloud racecourse, France.

“We’ve been working on the Handbook for two years, and in addition to the project lead and the support of the IFHA executive office, it’s had the input of 25 integrity experts including chemists, analysts, stipendiary stewards and academics,” Andrew Harding, the executive director of the IFHA and executive director, racing at the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), told Idol Horse between conference sessions.

Andrew Harding and Winfried Engelbrecht-Besges
ANDREW HARDING, WINFRIED ENGELBRECHT-BRESGES / Sha Tin // 2023 /// Photo by Lo Chun Kit

The 142-page document is exactly what it says on the cover and more. It is a how-to on regulating the sport and the individual participants; how to approach integrity in dope testing; in horse health, safety, security and welfare; in betting, including how to monitor markets legal and illegal; in anti-corruption procedures and systems; and it emphasises the need for ongoing education and training of participants about racing integrity practices.

“We saw the handbook as serving a number of purposes including being a resource that racing administrators can use in developing their systems and improving their systems,” Harding said.

“We also think that it’s a tool that racing can use to better explain to government, to law enforcement agencies, and public, an understanding of just how sophisticated the integrity systems in racing are.”

The publication of the Handbook is in keeping with one of the IFHA’s aims to bring about global rules harmonisation.

“It’s not the major objective that we had in developing the handbook,” Harding said, while acknowledging the importance of that endeavour, which has become more significant since the advent of the HKJC’s World Pool with its international commingling of deep pari-mutuel betting pools, hooked to some of the world’s biggest racing events.

“Harmonisation of rules is a mission of the IFHA where it is sensible to achieve that: there are some rules that will be particular to individual jurisdictions,” he continued.

“Harmonisation is important to us, but we understand there are domestic considerations that mean that won’t necessarily be easy to achieve, and in some cases it won’t be achievable. But it’s important to us in relation to such issues as say the protest objection rule, that we do try to make progress towards uniformity and I’m very pleased that we are making progress.

“We’ve seen in the last five years incredible progress made on such major issues as the protest objection rule, to what we describe as the Category 1 Rule, which is the model rule of the international agreement.”

State Of Rest and Anamoe
STATE OF REST, ANAMOE / G1 Cox Plate // Moonee Valley /// 2021 //// Photo by Vince Caligiuri

The Category 1 interference rule is perceived as more palatable to the public given that stewards would only demote a horse for interference if it was clear that the horse would not have achieved its final placing without interference occurring. The Category 2 rule, commonly implemented in the United States, is ostensibly a cut and dried demotion of a horse based only on the interference having occurred.

Harding also emphasised the progress in the last 12 months that most notably has seen the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) adopt the “IFHA model rule” regarding non-runners, in that the stewards can rule a horse to be a non-runner if it is judged to have been denied a fair start from the starting gate: previously that could only have been ruled if the starting gate was faulty or the rider came off in the stalls.

The Racing Integrity Handbook is also seen as playing a role in the broader concern of improving racing’s image and shining a light on the sport’s achievements in striding out ahead of other sports in the development and implementation of its integrity processes.

“In terms of the public perception and the public acceptance, and public attitudes towards racing, it is important that we promote knowledge of the very sophisticated approach that we have developed towards integrity. When you consider this area, it is one aspect of our activities that is really leading, so far as sports are concerned,” he noted.

“Integrity is an issue that faces every sport and I think, so far as racing is concerned, we can say with some justification that we lead in this respect, and that includes the programmes we have in place for doping control, which really are the world leading approach; but also the things that we’re able to do in terms of safeguarding education of participants, which is a key aspect of any approach to delivering integrity within the sport.

“And our approach to betting monitoring,” he added. “What’s taking place in illegal markets, and to address the threats that illegal betting pose to the integrity of the sport.”

The IFHA hopes the handbook will be a beneficial advisory tool for horse racing and other sports governing bodies, and in turn bolster confidence in the integrity of the sport’s management ∎

David Morgan is Chief Journalist at Idol Horse. As a sports mad young lad in County Durham, England, horse racing hooked him at age 10. He has a keen knowledge of Hong Kong and Japanese racing after nine years as senior racing writer and racing editor at the Hong Kong Jockey Club. David has also worked in Dubai and spent several years at the Racenews agency in London. His credits include among others Racing Post, ANZ Bloodstock News, International Thoroughbred, TDN, and Asian Racing Report.

View all articles by David Morgan.

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