Kildare based company is changing the standards of horse racing anti-doping and healthcare

Kildare based company Equine MediRecord (EMR) has gone from a strong concept to a global leader in its field within just four years since its launch in 2018.

EMR is an online platform, launched in 2018, that allows horse trainers and owners to log their animals medical record and anti-doping compliance documents.

The platform was started by Pierce Dargan alongside his brother Finlay Dargan and Simon Hillary, the three studied in Trinity College Dublin.

EMR was also named Ireland’s Outstanding Small Business in the 2022 Small Firms Association (SFA) National Small Business Awards last week.

EMR is the first of its kind in the horse racing world and the platform has now received global recognition. The use of the platform to record the full veterinary history of a horse and other compliance documentation is now required for horses in events such as the Breeder’s Cup, Saudi Cup and Pegasus World Cup racing events.

The tool is now widely used by trainers independently and through racing associations. Pierce and his brother’s background as fifth generation horse breeders and owners but this was not always their plan. Their original concept was a price comparison site for farm consumables such as feed and fencing.

Pierce and his business partners won the Alltech Trinity entrepreneurial competition. But upon reaching out to local farmers for market research the group found there was no interest in their idea.

“They told us about all these regulations that have come into the horse racing industry. The regulations and tracking are very complex and their concerns were that if they get it wrong they get fined and then in more serious cases could lose their licence and therefore livelihood. Them voicing their concerns about the regulations and anti-doping protocols is what brought about the idea we have today.”

EMR is now used by major trainers such as Noel Meade and Nicolas Clement.