Former trainer Tim McCarthy given maximum £3,000 fine for breaching horse welfare rules
Former trainer Tim McCarthy has been handed the maximum fine of £3,000 by a disciplinary panel on Wednesday after being found to have fallen below acceptable horse welfare standards.
McCarthy was deemed to have been in breach of rule D1 – failing to take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety and welfare of every horse in his care at all times – after failing to heed the warning of jockey Martin Dwyer before Mindurownbusiness suffered a broken shoulder when falling on his third run after a 1,778-day absence at Lingfield on April 10, 2021.
During the three-day hearing, Dwyer, who had ridden Mindurownbusiness on his first two starts for the trainer earlier that year, gave evidence that McCarthy had told him he had "not worked the horse very fast", while also stating he felt there was something "seriously wrong" with Mindurownbusiness the second time he rode him, which he reported to BHA officials.
Kate Bradley, who had worked with Mindurownbusiness when he was in training with Roger Varian, told the panel McCarthy had told her the horse had not been in fast work to ensure he passed the raceday vet, while the BHA's director of equine regulation, James Given, said Mindurownbusiness's fatal injury was not "uncommon for horses whose skeletons had not been conditioned strong enough" in training.
McCarthy expressed that the accusations had "really upset" him and stated that Dwyer had been lying when he told the panel that he had not told the trainer Mindurownbusiness had taken just “a misstep” during a mile handicap at Lingfield in March 2021. He also said "I think the woman is mad" when asked about Bradley's comments.
'Mr McCarthy failed to ensure the horse had undertaken sufficient fast work to prepare him for a return'
In concluding on the final day, Stella Hayden, representing McCarthy, asked the panel to take into consideration that he has been involved in the rehabilitation of racehorses from injury for trainers for the past 25 years as well as training himself, with his "expertise in that aspect of the sport clear", while character statements from Varian, Mark Johnston, Nicky Henderson and Clive Cox spoke positively about McCarthy on his behalf.
After deliberation, His Honour James O’Mahony, on behalf of the panel, said: "The relevant particulars of the BHA charge are that [one] Mr McCarthy failed to ensure the horse had undertaken sufficient fast work to prepare him for a return to racing and that [five] he failed to heed to the warnings given to him by Martin Dwyer.
"We conclude that the allegation against Mr McCarthy under one, on the balance of probabilities, is made out, and it is also made out on the other relevant matter in five. We find a breach of rule D1 as far as that is concerned.
"Mr McCarthy's case and his evidence, when confronted in cross-examination in particular, with the sheer weight of evidence by Kate Bradley, Martin Dwyer and James Given and, if he should assert it, why they should lie about these matters, led to a situation where, in our judgement, his case fell apart in terms of credibility."
The BHA stated McCarthy's case fell into the lowest category in section D in relation to horse welfare – where the responsible person falls below the acceptable standard – and the maximum fine of £3,000 was handed out.
McCarthy hasn't saddled a runner since Mindurownbusiness's fall in April 2021 and does not currently hold a licence. He does not intend to rejoin the training ranks.
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