Irish racing's head of anti-doping says there is no conflict of interest in IHRB

Irish racing’s head of anti-doping has insisted there is “no crossover” between the executive arm of how drugs are policed and members of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board.

Appearing in front of the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee on Thursday, called to examine high-profile claims by trainer Jim Bolger in relation to doping and integrity in Irish racing, Dr Lynn Hillyer rejected suggestions about a perception of a potential conflict of interest in how the sport is policed.

Senator Ronan Mullen described the IHRB as effectively a self-selecting club and asked if it was an anachronism for such a body to be the regulatory organisation, particularly in relation to something as sensitive as doping which Bolger has described a racing’s No 1 problem.

He queried if there is something “out of date and unhealthy about the whole appearance” of such a body and said there is a concern that the IHRB is a “closed shop” getting taxpayers money and which contains people involved in the buying and selling of bloodstock.

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The IHRB will get €10.3 million of state funding through the semi-state Horse Racing Ireland this year. However Hillyer was keen to draw a distinction between professional IHRB personnel and members, stewards and board members who are voluntary.

“There is absolutely no crossover between what we do as an executive and, for example, the board or members, absolutely no crossover whatsoever,” she said.

Hillyver, who was appointed head of doping in 2016 on the back of a series of drug controversies involving anabolic steroids, drew on her previous experience working within British racing which now contains its promotion and regulation under the British Horseracing Authority umbrella.

“I absolutely support whole-heartedly the concept of an independent regulator. I think it’s crucial. I know there are experts in the form of the members and the stewards who benefit the organisation.

“But I need to be crystal clear, they have absolutely nothing to do with our disciplinary or regulatory processes, our processing of cases, our knowledge of cases. There is no knowledge of cases,” she stated.

Hillyer was one of the IHRB witnesses to appear remotely in front of the Committee. HRI’s chief executive Brian Kavanagh also appeared. Covid restrictions resulted in chairman Jackie Cahill stopping questions after two hours and he reconvened the hearing to Tuesday week.

During questions the under-fire regulator defended itself on the back of Bolger’s claims and the IHRB’s chief executive, Denis Egan, who is taking early retirement in September, said he was “very frustrated and disappointed” by recent allegations.

He insisted all information received by the regulator in relation to doping is “assessed and acted upon.” He also said the IHRB continues to evidence that “there is no systemic attempt to cheat through doping in Irish racing.”

Questioned by Paul Kehoe TD, who said he was “absolutely horrified” by some of the information he was receiving about doping, and who queried if there has ever been a positive sample where no action was taken, Egan said: “I can categorically state there has never been a positive finding with no action taken.”

Kehoe was told by Egan that there are up to 10 disciplinary hearings pending at the IHRB and the Wexford TD asked if there are any court injunctions against of them, something that has been the subject of persistent racecourse rumours.

“Absolutely not, and there has never been a court injunction in relation to any anti-doping matter with us,” Egan replied.

Appearing along with IHRB officials was Dr Clive Pearce of the LGC laboratory in Newmarket which does the testing for both Irish and British racing.

Bolger, who declined to appear before the committee citing legal advice, had appeared to question testing standards in claims about a failure to catch cheats.

However both Pearce and Hillyer defended the processes, the latter saying it “grates” when such matters are “not reported correctly.”

The Independent TD Michael Collins said he believed the IHRB should be “disbanded” and replaced with an independent policing organisation answerable to HRI. He described the body as a “self-elected gentleman’s club”.

Brian Kavanagh disputed Collins’s term “unanswerable” in relation to the regulator and said it files regular budgets with HRI.

Denis Egan described the granting of ‘authorised officer’ status to a dozen IHRB personnel, including five vets, at the end of May as a “game-changer” in the fight against doping. it allows the regulator to enter premises it doesn’t licence such as stud farms to carry out without-notice testing.

Almost 2,500 samples have been taken in the first half of this year with an increase in out of competition testing.

Lynn Hillyer told the Committee she intends to increase out of competition testing into the future. Such tests were nine per cent of the total in 2016 but are close to 30 per cent now.

Asked by Michael Ring TD if any samples had gone missing in the last six months, she replied: “No, categorically not, no. Not on my watch, not in the last five years.”

In his evidence, Brian Kavanagh pointed to how 1,733 Irish trained horses of all standards and ability raced around the world in 2019. That included in jurisdictions as far afield as Hong Kong and Japan, all with their own testing regimes. No adverse drug findings were recorded.

The Committee will hold two more sessions on doping and integrity this Tuesday when officials from the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association and the Department Of Agriculture will appear before it.