Anglesey Lodge Equine hospital Personality Award- Dr Adrian McGoldrick
This award is for people who contribute to the sport and who give their time week in week out, making them the foundation of our sport.
Previous winners of this award include Frankie Fitzsimons, Richard Mulcahy, Frankie Ward and Billy O Brien to name just a few.
A native of Rathangan, Dr Adrian McGoldrick qualified as a doctor in 1976 and worked in Clones Co. Monaghan for five years before moving back to Kildare to work as a GP in Newbridge where he is still based.
In November 2007 he was appointed Turf Club Senior Medical Officer taking over from Dr. Walter Halley.
Dr. McGoldrick had a long association with the racing industry before his appointment as he was the Racecourse Medical Officer at the Curragh Racecourse from 1985 and the Curragh Training Grounds Medical Officer since 2000.
He was also the Secretary of the Racecourse Medical Officers Association and since 2004 he had been the Joint Research Co-Ordinator (together with Dr. Giles Warrington) of the Irish Turf Club Study on the Physiological, Nutritional and Lifestyle Characteristics of the Irish Jockey and has presented two papers on the research findings to the American College of Sports Medicine.
He is also a member of the International Concussion and Head Injury Research Foundation’s technical committee.
His first research was into dehydration in jockeys. The late Ned Gowing provided a lab for the blood to be tested in and they confirmed that jockeys were seriously dehydrated.
Since 2004 he was involved in research on the consequences of jockeys making weight alongside Dr Giles Warrington.
New minimum riding weights were introduced and they formed a new strategy that riders must meet with the dietitian, on two occasions and with a sports physician. As a result jockeys spend more time looking at nutrition and exercise to make weight rather than the old techniques, like the sauna.
He worked on improving the European helmet standard as well as improving the back protectors used.
In last year’s budget for 2016/17 season HRI started to meet the cost of providing qualified medical officers at every point-to-point which was previously borne by the point-to-point organisers. These doctors are provided by the Turf Club / INHS Committee which is a big financial saving for each committee.
Dr McGolderick has also worked endlessly at ensuring that the correct equipment is provided for doctors at the races for each meeting.
The introduction of the IHRB’s mobile medical unit that is provided for point-to-points allows doctors on the day to carry out any checks or tests on riders if they have a fall which is extremely important for the safety of point-to-point riders each weekend.
