Horseracing officials defend drugs record as committee hearings start

Members of the committee put questions to Brian Kavanagh, chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland, Denis Egan, chief executive of the IHRB, and Dr Lynn Hillyer, chief veterinary officer at the IHRB.

Horse Racing Ireland CEO Brian Kavanagh.

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) defended its anti-doping processes in staunch fashion at a sitting of the joint committee of the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine on Thursday.

It cannot have been comfortable, however, as one member of committee called for the dismantling of the IHRB and for the creation of an independent body to regulate the sport of horse racing.