The Innovators: Irish Racehorse Experience

Despite being famous as a nation of horse lovers, horseracing fans in particular, Ireland is not immune to the same problems faced by most of the world’s major racing nations; a general public who are slowly drifting away from the animal that was once, not so long ago, at the heart of society.

The latest innovation at the Irish National Stud (INS), a state-owned institution, is aiming to address the growing detachment between horse and human, and serve as an educational experience on an industry in which Ireland punches well above its weight on the world stage.

“The idea started out with a need to upgrade the museum we’ve had here for a long time,” INS CEO Cathal Beale told TTR AusNZ. “We had support from Failte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Agency, so we decided to actually tell a story this time and create something that people could interact with.

“We came up with a narrative that mirrored our Japanese Garden by taking the visitor on a journey through the life of a thoroughbred from foaling to racing by letting them make all the decisions and getting to ride their own horse in a virtual race.”

The Irish Racehorse Experience, a €3.2million (AU$5.37 million) project (61 per cent of which was grant supported), was born. Beale’s ambition with the experience is to highlight all the elements of the thoroughbred lifecycle that are usually hidden, encouraging visitors to invest in the story behind what they may have seen briefly on TV.

“After a brief introduction the game element starts in Goffs where you must purchase a yearling,” he explained. You must name your new purchase, decide on the trainer and, most importantly, how it should be trained, and then you pick your colours.

“Once all the information is locked in you are ready to race. Throughout this journey there are digital, physical, interactive displays and information points to show people how these animals are raised, the depths of their physiological capacity, the role of jockeys, the whip, and raceday itself.

“We also have our own equine karaoke where you can practise your race calling skills while racing the words to a famous race. I suppose the idea is that it is education by stealth, using technology and hopefully engaging the senses and letting people have some fun with it.”

Getting off the ground

Amongst the 150,000 visitors the Irish National Stud welcomes through its gates each year the demographic is wide-ranging, from primary school groups to retirees. Beale reported that all newcomers will pass through the experience, and hence it was imperative from the start that it cater to everyone.

After running several workshops with a large focus group of industry and tourism leaders, Beale employed DMW Creative to curate and organise the story, the telling of which ultimately meant construction of a new building to house the digital experience.

Gallery: Images of the new Irish Racehorse Experience

“This actually helped,” he explained. “The creative team were able to input into decisions like where mech and electricity infrastructure needed to be rather than trying to shoe-horn their ideas into an existing building.

“It is completely original bespoke technology. GPS sensors are placed centimetres apart throughout the roof to track you throughout the visit and load the next piece of audio or gameplay at various points.

“The game itself is designed around an algorithm that places emphasis on your selection and training methodology in particular. There is an element of chance loaded in for going condition changes or unforeseen – we thought that was more realistic.”

Adding to the realism, the filmed elements of the experience place the visitor into the centre of the industry. Collaborating with Goffs, visitors are immersed in the life of an auction house whilst ‘The Big Race’, which the whole experience works towards, sees visitors taking their seat alongside five others on racehorse simulators as the gates open on the big screen in front of them.

That element, so crucial to the experience, took no small amount of work to realise according to Beale.

“We spent a long time trying to work that one out,” he said. “Eventually we convinced Naas Racecourse to allow us to ride one horse up the straight on a raceday in between two races.

“Johnny Murtagh was brilliant to supply us with the horse and we had Gary Carroll ride, who is the son of Sally Carroll who ran our Education Course so brilliantly for years.

“On the day itself Naas was brilliant and allowed me to be interviewed in the parade ring to explain to all the racegoers what was going on. We needed to make it look crowded so we asked everyone there to stand on the rails and cheer them on like Gary was winning the Derby.”

Whether it’s the realism, the quality of the experience or the fascinating animal behind it all, Beale’s aim in capturing wider attention has proved successful, and the Irish Racehorse Experience has been the recipient of several awards including the THEA in 2022.

“These are the Oscars for the global Visitor Experience sector,” Beale explained. “It was a great kick to see our little Irish thoroughbred competing with Super Mario, Jurassic Park and Disney among others.”

“While these Awards are great we actively built the experience for the median person, the general visitor, and to see them smiling and laughing and having a great time going through it is much more important and satisfying.”

Taking the lead

The Irish National Stud’s position as a government body means that Beale must have a far wider lens than most who sit at the head of breeding organisations, though he’s still plain about the bottom line.

The goal of promoting Ireland as “a world centre of excellence for thoroughbred breeding care” can only be achieved by developments in commercial activity, he argues.

“We do that by supporting innovation, education, tourism and sustainability to be a showcase for Ireland’s bloodstock sector.

“Every major project we look at tries to achieve at least one of those objectives. We have invested significantly in boarding facilities and infrastructure, in our broodmare band, in stallions and in our tourism offering. Those are the drivers of our revenue.”

Beale is frank about the contribution of the stud’s flagbearer, the 26-year-old Invincible Spirit (Ire), whom he hails as “by far the greatest” of all the stallions to have walked the same pastures in over 120 years.

Without him, even grant-supported projects such as the Irish Racehorse Experience might not have been possible.

“From those revenue streams,” Beale continued. “We’ve been able to help create the National Equine Innovation Centre on our campus, to enhance our education program, achieving QQI Level 6 status on the National Framework of Qualifications, and develop tourism infrastructure that better tells our story.”

Whilst the Irish Racehorse Experience is a class-leading innovation itself, the industry-first approach on which all INS activities has, in the case of the National Equine Innovation Centre, been the catalyst for further innovation.

Video: One of the Irish National Stud activities

“It was launched a couple of years ago now and houses equine tech and innovation companies such as Equitrace and Trojan Track as well as Treo Eile and Thoroughbred Country,” Beale explained.

“It places INS as a hub for international equine technology development and has created a network beyond the physical infrastructure of the building itself.

“Just last week we hosted a trade delegation through Enterprise Ireland with over 30 companies displaying their services to delegates throughout the world.”

A clear vision

Beale is clearly an innovator. Though he’s happy to share his experiences, he modestly refused to laud the Irish Racehorse Experience as a template to be copied around the world but, as for his take on the challenges our industry faces, its existence tells you all you need to know.

“I think like everywhere else we have an amazing thing that is hiding in plain sight,” he said. “We all know the pressures on our social licence in this sport.

“I firmly believe we have a great story to tell. The thoroughbred and the people who look after them are fascinating to the general public. We see it everyday at INS. When people are given access to be near them their reactions are amazing.

“Our view is that people need to be welcomed in, to see what we do, to understand where we are coming from. We have to open our gates and let people see it because I have absolute confidence in what we do. The more people we can pass through those doors the more people I believe we convert to being, if not fans, at least understanding bystanders.”