| INDUSTRY |
NEW HRI CEO
SUZANNE EADE SUZANNE EADE REVEALS HER 2022 RACING PRIORITIES TO BREANDÁN Ó hUALLACHÁIN
“W | MAGAZINE 2022 |
ithout the investment of owners we simply would not have the industry that we do.” Suzanne Eade was appointed to the role of Chief Executive Officer of Horse Racing Ireland in 2021, replacing Brian Kavanagh, who is the new CEO at The Curragh Racecourse. Eade served as Group Chief Financial Officer of HRI since she joined the semi-state body in October 2015. Prior to her entry into racing, she held senior roles in the retail industry including Finance Director for Boots Retail Ireland Ltd and Group Finance Manager, Procter & Gamble. Ms Eade spent time working in London with Gillette before moving to Geneva for a few years prior to returning to Ireland. When asked by Racing Certainty about her racing pedigree, Suzanne Eade admitted: “My interest in horse racing initially was purely as a social event and in the UK particularly where I got to many racecourses including Ascot, York and Goodwood. When I took up the role as Chief Financial Officer with HRI, I really began to appreciate what the sport and wider industry was all about. I never really understood the magic until I got closer to it and just understood the quality, commitment of those working in the industry and the incredible horses bred in Ireland. My interest in the industry is far more than a job for me.” What are her plans and ambitions now for Irish racing? “We have seen through all of the key performance indicators in 2021 that, despite the Covid pandemic and Brexit challenges, the Irish racing and breeding industry continues to perform very strongly. We know we have wonderful people and horses behind this success and the role of HRI is to help the industry continue to grow and prosper and ensure we have the right structures and assistances in place. Racing, as a leisure pastime, faces the same challenges that most leisure pursuits face: how do we attract people back to the racecourse after two years of restrictions and a long period of consuming
our product at home? Owners absolutely fall into that bracket too in lots of cases, so the racecourse experience is a priority for HRI in 2022. It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the difficult year that 2021 was in terms of how some events – however isolated – may have shaped the perception of our sport, and education programmes and initiatives in the area of equine welfare will be at the forefront of our priorities this year too.” Attracting owners back to the racecourse may be one issue, but what about other key concerns for owners such as prize money, costs and race programming? “Racehorse ownership underpins our industry – without the investment of owners we simply would not have the industry that we do. A prize money structure that recognises that has always been a central plank of HRI policy and that will certainly continue, and related to that are the costs of ownership and the opportunities that are ultimately there for horses on the track so we will continue to work very closely with owners on those issues.”
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