Horse Racing Ireland has launched the first in a series of five podcasts aimed at guiding and supporting the racing and breeding industry on its sustainability journey.

Produced in association with The Irish Field, the podcasts cover a wide range of issues, such as energy conservation, biodiversity, available grants and schemes, mental health and wellbeing, and how racecourses are trying to make their operations more sustainable and resilient.

Each podcast features expert guests, many of whom will be familiar to racing fans. They include jockeys Shane Foley and Keith Donoghue, trainer Kieran Cotter, breeder Micheál Conaghan, and racecourse managers Michael Moloney and Emma Meehan.

There are also contributions from IHRB senior medical officer Dr Jennifer Pugh, Peter Roe, Head of Racing with HRI Racecourses, and Victor Quinlan, HRI’s Head of Environmental Sustainability, along with representatives of Teagasc, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and the Department of Agriculture.

Victor Quinlan, Head of Environmental Sustainability at HRI, said: “We are delighted to be launching this podcast series in association with The Irish Field. HRI are committed through its Sustainability Strategy 2024 to provide support and guidance to the wider equine industry, and we hope that this podcast series will provide listeners with some useful information on where to start and resources available to them.”

Each episode in the series is named after a famous racehorse. Mark Costello, Editor of The Irish Field, explained: “We came up with some names that are linked to the topics being discussed. For example, the episode on energy saving is named Annie Power, and the biodiversity episode is called Hedgehunter. Sustainability is a serious subject but we made a big effort to make this podcast series easily accessible and interesting for listeners. Even those who feel they know very little about the subject will hopefully enjoy them and come away with some ideas on how they might make little changes to their work and personal routines.”

You can listen to the first episode in the series HERE

HRI’s Sustainability Strategy ‘Racing towards a better world’ was launched in December 2023 and aims to drive and support the Irish breeding and racing industry in becoming a recognised leader in sustainability.

The strategy focuses on building on current good practice to further develop and adopt industry standards, policies and practices to meet expectations. It identifies the role HRI will play in delivering sustainability change across the organisation, while also providing guidance and support to the wider industry, and sets out a clear approach and roadmap for delivery, embracing Ireland’s Climate Action Plan and benchmarked against the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

You can read more about HRI’s Sustainability Strategy HERE