Kildare firm Equine MediRecord will play a key role in helping regulate the integrity of the Irish Harness Racing industry.

The newly-established Veterinary and Welfare Commission (VWC) – funded by the Department of Agriculture – has announced that all regulatory medical records for the Irish standardbred community will be moving from paper to digital.

The aim is to ensure that records can’t be lost, damaged or tampered with once closed on the system, greatly increasing transparency and accountability in relation to anti-doping and equine welfare.

VWC and the Irish Harness Racing Association (IHRA) have commissioned Equine MediRecord, world leaders in anti-doping and equine welfare software, and are mandating this system for all horses that fall under their regulatory scope.

Other regulators have switched to digital records for horses in training and competition. But harness racing under the IHRA’s remit is now the first equine sport to make it a mandatory regulation that digital medical records be maintained by breeders and keepers of standardbred horses – ensuring a continuous flow of data on the horse throughout its life.

Equine MediRecord currently operates in Ireland, the UK and France. The Curragh-based firm recently partnered with the Arabian Racing Organisation (ARO) in the UK to make it the first in Europe and second in the world to mandate that electronic medical records be kept by their registered trainers.

“We are delighted to see further steps towards better equine care in the world,” said CEO Pierce Dargan. “We are proud and delighted that the VWC and the IHRA decided to partner with us for this project and we hope this will be the beginning of meaningful change that helps improve outcomes for horses and the industry as a whole.”