Louis Romanet, the Chairman of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), today announced the creation of a steering committee to study the future governance of the IFHA.

Citing the need for the IFHA to evaluate its statutes and structure, the request by Chairman Romanet to form a governance steering committee was approved by the Executive Council. The group will be led by IFHA Vice-Chairman Brian Kavanagh, and composed of participants from the four regional areas representing the Asian Racing Federation, European and Mediterranean Horseracing Federation, North America, and OSAF (South America).

Nominees were received as follows for the governance steering committee:

•           Asian Racing Federation: Frances Nelson, QC (Chair, Racing Australia)
•           European and Mediterranean Horseracing Federation: Nick Rust (Chief Executive, British Horseracing Authority)
•           North America: Jim Lawson (Chief Executive Officer, Woodbine Entertainment Group)
•           OSAF: Horacio Esposito (Advisor in International Affairs, OSAF)

Chairman Louis Romanet stated:

“Any global organization must consistently assess its mechanisms to ensure the structure can realize its missions for a continually evolving world, and horse racing is no different. I look forward to receiving the recommendations from this newly formed governance steering committee as it is critical that the IFHA measures itself for the future challenges of our global sport, and to ensure our sustained ability to promote good regulation and best practices.”

The Executive Council of the IFHA continued to urge all racing authorities to adopt stringent doping control measures in line with the principles outlined in Article 6 of the IABRW.

Chairman Romanet summarized, “The Federation’s commitment to a stringent anti-doping policy has been a core principle since the IFHA’s inception. Doping undermines everything that we want to achieve relating to fair competition, the welfare of racehorses, the safety of jockeys and the development of strong bloodlines in the Thoroughbred breed. Racing regulators and organizers are obliged to take every measure possible to protect and safeguard the sport against the use and abuse of prohibited substances and doping practices, in both racing and training. Only when racing authorities commit to robust doping control policies that include out-of-competition testing can stakeholders be truly confident in the integrity of our sport.” 

Chairman Romanet also announced that the Iran Equestrian Federation (IEF) was approved by the IFHA Executive Council as an affiliate member. The international organization is the national governing body for equestrian sports in Iran, and its authority extends to racing and oversight of the Iranian Stud Book

“We were honored to host the Iran Equestrian Federation at the 52nd IFHA Conference and to learn about the distinguished history of Iranian racing and breeding,” Chairman Romanet said. “On behalf of the IFHA, I wish them continued success and look forward to working with the IEF as an affiliate member of our federation.”

Several changes to various IFHA technical committees were also approved:

Following the appointment of a new Chairman (Dr Terence Wan, Chief Advisor, Doping Control, at The Hong Kong Jockey Club) and Vice-Chairman (Dr. Ludovic Bailly‐Chouriberry, Director of Laboratoire des Courses Hippiques (LCH)) to the IFHA’s Advisory Council on Equine Prohibited Substances and Practices (Advisory Council), a number of nominations to that group were ratified.

Dr. Emmie Ho (head of the Racing Laboratory of the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Fellow member of the AORC) and Dr Bertrand Baudot (Head of the Quantilab in Mauritius and Professional member of the AORC) were approved as members nominated by the Association of Official Racing Chemists (AORC). Dr Brian Stewart was named to the Advisory Council in his capacity as Chairman Emeritus of the International Group of Specialist Racing Veterinarians (IGSRV). Dr Paul-Marie Gadot (Head of Licensing, Registration, and Control of France Galop) and James Ogilvy (Executive manager, Racing Authority (External) for The Hong Kong Jockey Club) were appointed as IFHA representatives to the Advisory Council. A full list of the Advisory Council on Equine Prohibited Substances and Practices can be found below.

Dr Paul-Marie Gadot and James Ogilvy were also named as IFHA Technical Advisors within the Federation’s Executive Office.

At the recommendation of the Federation’s Reference Laboratory Appointment Committee (RLAC), the IFHA Reference Laboratory White Manual was updated and now available at ifhaonline.org. In addition, Dr Ben Moeller of the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, University of California at Davis, was named to the Reference Laboratory Technical Committee (RLTC).

It was also announced by the International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee (IRPAC) that further updates have been made to The Criteria for Assessment in the International Catalogue Standards (ICS) book. The Criteria for Assessment outlines the criteria for inclusion in Parts I, II and III of the ICS book. The Criteria for Part I countries were updated to include a requirement that, except in exceptional circumstances, each country in Part I must have a minimum of one Group/Grade 1 race. It was also revealed that Phil Smith, former Head of Handicapping for the British Horseracing Authority has been retained as a racing consultant for the IFHA in race planning matters.

A number of technical updates were also made to the International Agreement on Breeding, Racing, and Wagering (IABRW), which will be communicated to IFHA members and posted to its website shortly.

Full Membership of the Advisory Council on Equine Prohibited Substances and Practices

About the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA):

The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) is the world peak body for the international sport of Thoroughbred racing. Its 60 members are the national racing authorities across the globe which stage Thoroughbred races.

Major areas of the IFHA’s activities include:

•           Making and amending the International Agreement on Breeding, Racing and Wagering (the IABRW)
•           Policy development relating to welfare and safety of horses and riders
•           International Race Planning and Grading (“black type”)
•           World Rankings
•           The fight against Equine Prohibited Substances and Practices
•           Harmonization of Race Day Rules
•           Certification of IFHA Reference Labs
•           Fostering commercial development of the racing industry globally

The IFHA is a foundation member with Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) of the International Horse Sports Confederation and is affiliated to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).