Warsaw finally hosts EMHF assembly and stewards' conference

Article by Paull Khan

It’s just possible that the main benefit of the EMHF to its racing administrator members is the social dividend. Many of us have been involved for a dozen years or more, and the bonds that have developed within our network allow easy and unhesitating communication whenever some international issue or other should crop up in our racing lives. This column’s regular reader will know that the EMHF seeks to enrich our members’ education by moving our biannual meetings around the region and combining them with attending the races in the host country. In this issue, following a successful gathering in Poland, we try to convey a little of the flavour of an EMHF General Assembly reunion.

Back in 2019, when we gathered in Oslo and memorably celebrated Norway’s exuberant May 17th National Day celebrations, it was announced that, the following year, we would reconvene in Warsaw. That was not to happen, due to COVID, and the next two years were Zoom affairs. When the pandemic’s grasp began to ease, the Polish plan was back on the table— only for the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine to put an end to those hopes. Ireland manfully stepped in to host us at The Curragh in 2022; and so, when our party—of 48, from 19 countries—finally descended on the Polish capital on the middle weekend of May, there was a palpable feeling of relief.

By common consent, it was worth the wait.

Following the pattern introduced in Ireland, the event was split across two days. The first afternoon was devoted to all the things that one associates with a General Assembly: financial, membership and administrative matters, together with updates, from each member country present, on the state of racing in their respective nations, as well as from various relevant committees and sister organisations. The hosts also gave a colourful account of the rollercoaster that is the history of racing in their homeland.

We were pleased to welcome, once again, representatives of the European Federation of Thoroughbred Breeders’ Associations (EFTBA) and the European and African Stud Book Committee (EASBC). Because the EMHF has long taken the view that we in the equine sector should avoid operating in isolation, and instead benefit from cross-fertilisation of knowledge and ideas, these organisations, together with the European Trotting Union (UET) and European Equestrian Federation (EEF), are standing invitees to our General Assemblies.

After an excellent dinner that evening at the elegant Rozana restaurant in the Konstancin area of the city, our second morning was wider in its scope, and the floor was given to a number of experts who presented on a range of matters of current interest or concern. 

Police involvement in French racing

Those who followed the high-profile rape allegations against Pierre Charles Boudot or the arrests of the Rossi trainer brothers might have been struck and intrigued by the closeness of the involvement of the French police. Henri Pouret, EMHF executive council member for France, explained how there is a branch of the national French police force—the Service Centrale Courses et Jeux—dedicated to racing and gaming matters. No licenced or registered participant in French racing—be they owner, trainer, jockey or breeder—is allowed to participate unless their registration is authorised by the ‘racing police’. Then, once registered, if such an individual becomes subject to judicial proceedings, the racing police may require France Galop, or its trotting equivalent, Le Trot, to withdraw or suspend their licence. This is not just a theoretical power—on no fewer than 25 occasions did they do just this in the course of last year.

It is only for the past three years that doping a racehorse has been a criminal act in France. It seems likely that the racing police will play an ever more central part in the regulation of French racing.

FEGENTRI and the International Pony Racing Championship

With EMHF’s formation last year of the European Pony Racing Association (EPRA) and the launch in 2023 of FEGENTRI’s Junior Championship, never has there been a more opportune time to explore and develop the relationship between the amateur and professional communities in European racing. It was therefore a pleasure to receive FEGENTRI’s secretary-general, Charlotte Rinckenbach, to explain the work and relevance of her organisation.

FEGENTRI, the international federation of gentlemen and lady riders, has a history that stretches back to 1955. It is therefore longer established, not only longer  than the EMHF, but also longer than both the IFHA and the Asian Racing Federation. It organises amateur races around the world, across four main championships, and prides itself on providing a distinct and effective route by which to involve people in our sport from diverse walks of life.

FEGENTRI Junior is the first international pony racing championship of its kind. It has started in a modest way, with four countries each fielding two young riders, aged between 14 and 16 years. (The competition, which has the full support of the EPRA, is open to those of 12 years and over; but no-one younger than 14 was chosen this year). Their level of experience varies greatly—some have only ridden in a dozen races; others have 150 rides and over 50 winners under their belts. These eight trail-blazing youngsters have the wonderful opportunity of riding competitively in Florence, Bro Park, Chantilly, Livorno and Kincsem Park. And who’s to say that, from amongst them, we will not see a champion of the future?

Gene doping and its implications for EMHF members

‘Gene doping is not a rumour anymore’, was the stark opening warning from Dr Kanichi Kusano of the Japan Racing Association, one of the world’s experts in this sphere. He explained that the abuse of genetic therapies is a major threat to racing’s integrity. In the worst-case scenario, the heritable genome of a thoroughbred would be changed through genetic modification at the breeding stage—of the eggs, sperm or embryo. The good news is that, in this race, the ‘good guys’ are up with the pace, and already there are out of competition (OOC) tests for gene doping that are being deployed. 

Smaller countries, without extensive resources to direct towards research or detection, were advised to prepare by ensuring their rules adequately outlawed the practice and to publicise and start a programme of deterrent sample collection, followed by OOC testing as soon as the leading racing nations offer a suitable commercial service.

The World Pool

Tallulah Wilson, UK Tote Group’s head of international racing, spoke of the burgeoning impact of the World Pool and how EMHF countries could get involved through the World Tote Association (WoTA). World Pool, the Hong Kong-based system for commingling bets placed on key international races, is only four years old; but it has already demonstrated that races selected for inclusion enjoy a startling increase in pool betting turnover. 

Higher liquidity attracts the high-rollers and creates a virtuous circle from which the participating racecourses benefit, potentially boosting prize money. However, legislative restrictions in Hong Kong mean that the races included do not number in the thousands, or even hundreds. Just 25 race days, predominantly in Britain and Ireland, will form the 2023 roster. While this number is growing, the prospects of most EMHF member countries having a race included in the near term are only distant (although fresh ground has been broken this year through the inclusion—as a single race from a different country within a World Pool Day—of the German Derby).

However, Wilson’s message was that ‘everyone is welcome’ within WoTA. Member countries’ Tote operators were encouraged to apply to join, opening up the possibility of their punters being able to bet into the commingled World Pools and earning that pool operator and its racing industry a slice of the take-out.

Racing to school and National Racehorse Week

For over 20 years, a British programme has been introducing racing to schoolchildren, presenting aspects of their school curriculum through the lens of a visit to a racecourse, training yard or stud. John Blake, CEO of Racing to School, spoke of 16,000 children who attended such a course last year, instilling in many of them a positive sentiment towards the sport, which may hopefully translate in time into ownership or professional involvement. 

The third National Racehorse Week in Britain will take place in September, when racing yards and stud farms will open their doors to welcome members of the public. Over 10,000 took up the offer last year, of whom one-fifth were new to racing. 

At a time when our sport’s public image is under increasing pressure, these positive interactions with the public are initiatives which many member countries could look to replicate.

Racing at Sluzewiec 

With the business affairs completed, it was off to the races. The approach to Sluzewiec Racecourse is through a proud avenue of mature trees, and the whole expansive site was lush and green. The stands were indeed grand, completed, with unfortunate timing, in 1939—just before the onset of war. An attractive feature of the main grandstand is a sloping, stepless zigzag by which one ascends and descends from floor to floor. It makes for a photogenic feature—ideal for the fashion catwalks that are sometimes staged there.

The EMHF Cup was run over a mile for unraced three-year-olds worth €3,200. It attracted a field of eight runners. The winner, Sopot was one of only two Polish-breds, taking on horses foaled in Great Britain, France, Czech Republic and Ukraine.

The nine-race card was worth a total of €24,000. A mixed programme comprised thoroughbred, trotting and Arab races, from 1300m (6 1/2f) up to 2400m (1 1/2m). No race attracted fewer than seven runners and the largest field was 11. Interestingly, in an apprentice race, for riders who had ridden fewer than 25 winners, the whip was not allowed to be carried, let alone used.

Horserace betting is not ingrained in Polish society, and there was little evidence of avid form study, or raucous cheering. However, the crowd’s demographic was a revelation: it was hard to spot a grey hair, with patrons almost exclusively families or young adults. It made for a beguilingly relaxed atmosphere.

Our horizons have been broadened by the experience of witnessing racing in such diverse settings across the EuroMed region as Waregem, (Belgium), La Zarzuela (Madrid, Spain), Kincsem Park (Budapest, Hungary), Casablanca (Morocco), Leopardstown and The Curragh (Ireland),  St. Moritz (Switzerland), Bro Park (Sweden),  Hamburg (Germany), Marcopoulo (Athens, Greece),  Bratislava (Slovakia), Les Landes (Jersey, Channel Islands), Pardubice (Czech Republic), Ovrevoll (Oslo, Norway), Veliefendi, Istanbul and Izmir (Turkey), Cheltenham (Great Britain) and now Warsaw. 

Seeing the sport flourish in such varied surroundings brings home the need to do all we can to preserve racing in every country in which it currently takes place. Singapore’s decision to draw the curtain down on horseracing was such dispiriting news.  A broad and thriving base to our pyramid enriches us all.

First  EuroMed Stewards’ Conference

Few things in international racing excite as much comment and criticism as comparing decisions taken by stewards around the world. There is a constant cry for consistency in the rules that apply to the running of a race, in the way stewards interpret both the races and the rules, and in the levels of penalty handed down. Harmonisation of such matters is a real challenge, not least because there is nobody in horse racing that sets world rules; each national racing authority sets its own. But that is not to say that substantial efforts are not made constantly to improve things in this area. It is the very raison d’etre of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ (IFHA’s), International Harmonisation of Racing Rules Committee (IHRRC), and is also the subject of much of the discussion at the International Stewards’ Conferences (ISC) that the IFHA has staged, roughly every two years, around the world. 

But these meetings must limit the numbers of delegates in attendance, and it is in practice that only the major racing nations benefit from being party to the discussions. For this reason, it was decided to stage a Stewards’ Conference for the EuroMed region and to welcome all EMHF member countries—large and small. This suggestion, proposed by Germany, was picked up with enthusiasm by Britain. Thus, it came to be that the day after the General Assembly, the BHA’s Brant Dunshea chaired the inaugural EuroMed Stewards’ Conference, which attracted a pleasing turnout of 30 delegates from 12 countries.

Joining from Australia via Zoom was Kim Kelly, who has for many years chaired both the IHRRC and ISC; he set the scene and placed this gathering into its global context. There followed a range of presentations, including the following.

Competency-based training programme

The job of the steward is high-profile, highly-charged and perpetually subject to criticism from both the media and the public. The BHA’s Cathy O’Meara described how Britain has recently introduced a competency-based training programme to ensure that its stewarding workforce, along with all raceday teams, is (and remains) up to the job. Through a combination of interactive on-line learning, shadowing, mentoring and more, stewards learn, and are then assessed on, race reading, the rules, enquiry training and report writing. And, once initial competencies are met, the learning journey is not over. All stewards will be required to complete continued professional development, where half of the content relates directly to their roles and half to general industry-related issues such as equine and human welfare. A next step will be to develop a module for the use of those in the industry, such as trainers and the general public. The BHA also has plans to offer to receive stewards from smaller racing nations to assist in their development.

Illegal betting

The EMHF’s equivalent in the Asian and Oceanian region, the Asian Racing Federation (ARF) and, in particular, Hong Kong, is on the front line in a battle against illegal betting. The ARF has established a Council on Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Financial Crime; and its chair, Martin Purbrick, joined us by video conference.

The stark facts are that illegal betting is growing much more quickly than legal betting and already represents the majority of online betting. Aside from the fact that illegal betting makes no contribution to racing, nor to society at large, through taxation, it is also intrinsically linked to race-fixing and organised crime. While Asia may be the historic hotbed of this activity, Purbrick cautioned that Asian illegal betting has already expanded into Europe.

Online betting is no respecter of national boundaries, and if we are to be successful in this war, it will require a joined-up, cross-border and multi-agency approach, involving governments, racing authorities, gambling authorities and the police. But we cannot leave it to these organisations alone—it is incumbent upon all of us to be aware of the risks of race manipulation and to whistle-blow if ever we encounter it.

Virtual stewards’ room

This column (April 2020) described a novel system of remote stewarding, witnessed by the author in Johannesburg. It looked forward to a day when Stewards are situated at a central location, away from the track, from which they communicate with the principals on-track and view video footage. This might be widely adopted, promising more consistent application of the rules and the opportunity for smaller countries to outsource their stewarding function to larger countries.

The Conference heard how this brave new world might just have moved a step closer. The BHA reported on a system first trialled in 2020 and prompted by the COVID outbreak. The pandemic created a situation in which there was a real risk of stewards being unavailable due to a requirement to isolate. In response, assistant stewards began working remotely, through video conferencing from their homes, but initially without access to the full range of views available to the stewards on-course. The BHA then set about developing a hub, away from the racecourse, which offered the full range of race replays. While it was considered there was still the need to have a senior person on the course, the hub provided resilience against absence, allowed stewards to officiate at afternoon and evening meetings on the same day, etc.

The trial has now been rolled out in Britain, such that all assistant stewards have the option to work from home, improving their work/life balance. Around 25 percent of fixtures are covered by the technology, and it is planned to expand this further in the future.

Anti-doping activities

It has long been appreciated that trainers, when racing in different jurisdictions, should, as far as is practicable, be assured of facing similar treatment regarding medication control. To that end, the European Horseracing Scientific Liaison Committee (EHSLC) was set up over 30 years ago and continues to lead on this area of racing administration in our region. The Conference heard how the EHSLC (which is comprised of the chief veterinary officer/anti-doping manager from the member countries, representatives of the national laboratories, which carry out regulatory work for those countries, specialist pharmacologists and senior administrators from the racing authorities)  has generated a significant amount of data relating to common use medications and has published detection times for many substances. The science underlying these data is rigorous and the subject of considerable review and has often been accepted by the wider global racing community, forming the basis of international screening limits.

Feedback on the inaugural EuroMed Stewards’ Conference has been universally positive, and there is much enthusiasm to make this a regular event, perhaps again being staged alongside our General Assemblies.