HORSE Racing Ireland has moved to formalise its procedures for dealing with ownership disputes.

In the event of a dispute that individuals are unable to resolve between owners, partners, syndicate members or trainers, a designated process may now be explored through HRI “where the dispute impinges upon the registration of horse names or matters involving the racing administration of a named horse”.

Prior to this modification, the HRI directive related to this topic had instead implied that legal advice should be taken.

Disputes or matters of concern should now be raised with HRI’s racing department manager by telephone or by email. The manager will consider the matter, which may be referred to the director of racing and other executives on the nature of the issue, and a decision made by HRI will be communicated to the parties. For ongoing matters, an update will be provided monthly.

HRI director of racing Jason Morris told The Irish Field: “This was an internal audit recommendation to formalise the ownership dispute process so it really just reflects what has been happening in practice but hasn’t previously been documented. Cases of dispute are very seldom.”