BHA to focus on Irish betting trends

The British authority BHA has agreed on a four-year deal with the IHRB to monitor betting trends in Ireland.

UK.- The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) has signed a four-year deal with the  British Horseracing Authority (BHA) for the latter to monitor betting trends in Ireland. This comes after the Irish body’s tender in 2019 to seek another body to follow betting trends and rule breaches in the territory.

The cost of the commercial package is estimated at €350k, with the BHA bringing the successful tender to the table, the Irish Times reported. While the IHRB didn’t speak about the number, he did say that they will work in different areas of intelligence and that it’s a strong link for both of them.

While the 2020 budget for the horse racing industry in Ireland has been cut by €200k, this deal won’t be affected as the tender process happened before that decision. The BHA is expected to start its monitoring this Spring.

BHA CEO to stand down this year

Nick Rust, chief executive of the BHA, will step down at the end of 2020 after six years as leader of the governing body and regulator. Rust communicated the decision to the staff in January.

Rust said that the Horse Welfare Board, which the BHA set up last year, is finalising an ambitious strategy for further improvement of racing’s standards. He will begin the process of implementing the plan, but he believes that given his decision, “it’s the right time for someone else to pick up the challenge of delivering on these ambitions through a programme of work we expect to take five years or more.”