The dispersal of the majority of the horses trained by John 'Shark' Hanlon will go ahead after a decision on the trainer's appeal against the severity of his ten-month suspension was deferred, to be announced within 14 days.
Hanlon received his ban last month after a disciplinary panel held that he had been responsible for the inappropriate transportation of an equine carcass, a course of action that was determined to have damaged the reputation and public image of racing.
The original proceedings arose from a video that emerged on social media of Hanlon’s branded horse lorry pulling a trailer with a dead horse on it.
Hanlon, best known as the trainer of Hewick, the King George VI Chase, American Grand National and Galway Plate winner, argued that he was being punished for making a mistake.
He insisted that he had placed a tarpaulin over the dead horse but that it had blown away in transit and this was accepted in evidence in the original referral.
Speaking outside the offices of the IHRB, where today’s appeal was heard by a body headed by independent chairman Justice Peter Kelly, Hanlon expressed satisfaction with how events had unfolded but confirmed that 28 horses would be sold in Doncaster.
"After today, you’d be very hopeful," said Hanlon, who was accompanied by his partner Rachel O’Neill and solicitor John Whelan.
"I think we got a very, very fair hearing. We’re just going to have to wait for the outcome but I’m very happy with the hearing we got. That’s most important. They listened to everything we said.
"So we’re just hoping the decision goes our way now.
"The horses are going to England tomorrow. Today was the day we had to decide. There’s 28 horses going to Doncaster for 22 October. The owners are standing behind me and whatever we sell, please God, they’ll put back in the money again.
"It’s after being a long six weeks and I’ve two more weeks to put with it. We’re after having a tough time between my father dying, my sister falling down the stairs and having two bleeds on the brain – thankfully she’s better in the last couple of days – and all this.
"But we’ll know one way or the other now in two weeks."
Justice Peter Kelly (above), a former president of the High Court, was joined on the appeals body by Nick Wachman and Anthony Byrne, who are raceday stewards and members of the IHRB disciplinary panel.
There was a delay to proceedings as Stephen Lanigan O’Keeffe, acting on behalf of Hanlon, sought to introduce new evidence in the form of a submission by veteran trainer Edward O’Grady, who was flying in from London to give testimony.
This was allowed, although as O’Grady was still in transit, his testimony could not be heard until later.
When he did speak, O’Grady described the suspension as "draconian", as Hanlon was "an agricultural man going about agricultural business". He described some of the practicalities around dealing with fatalities when dealing with livestock.
Lanigan O’Keeffe argued that Hanlon had not broken any law or rule of racing, and argued that there was a contradiction between how his client was being treated and what was accepted practice at racecourses when there are equine fatalities.
He also contended that comparisons made in the original referral between this case and two previous high profile ones involving Rob James and Gordon Elliott, who were suspended after a video and photo respectively had emerged of the trainer/handler and well-known trainer had emerged of them sitting on dead horses were not appropriate because Hanlon had made a mistake rather than purposely done what was deemed prejudicial to the image of horse racing.
"Is he being punished for an offence of for publicity?" Lanigan O’Keeffe asked.
IHRB’s head of racing regulation and integrity Christine Traynor rebutted these points, arguing that James and Elliott had committed "in the moment" transgressions and exhibited more regret than Hanlon in this instance.
She contended that much of what Hanlon’s representatives were putting forward was "irrelevant".
The panel broke for an hour and reconvened at 2pm, when Justice Kelly announced that they would reserve their decision and announce it within the next 14 days.
"We want to give full consideration to all that we heard from both sides and to the evidence," Justice Kelly concluded.
While the majority of Hanlon's horses will be sold, his flagbearer Hewick has been declared to commence his campaign in the Grade Three BetVictor Chase at Punchestown on Wednesday.
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