Ireland's latest doping saga set to rumble on after Tony Martin and IHRB both lodge appeals against sanctions

Tony Martin and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) have lodged appeals against the findings of an IHRB referrals panel which last week handed the trainer a six-month suspension of his licence, suspended for two years, and fines totalling €11,000 after Firstman tested positive for lidocaine at Dundalk in January. 

It is a similar scenario to the Luke Comer doping scandal earlier this year, in which the trainer and the regulator both lodged appeals against the findings of the panel but as of yet a date for that appeal hearing has yet to be set. 

It looks like Ireland's latest doping saga is set to rumble on, too, after the IHRB revealed on Wednesday that it was not satisfied with the leniency of the sanctions imposed on Martin and had decided to lodge its own appeal. 

The trainer himself has lodged an appeal against the severity of the sanctions.

Niall Cronin, communications manager for the IHRB, said: "The IHRB has lodged an appeal under Rule 27(i)(b) against the decision of the referrals committee in respect of the undue leniency of the cumulative sanctions imposed on Mr Martin earlier this month. Mr Martin has lodged an appeal against the severity of the fine imposed for breaches of Rules 96(a), 148(i) and 272(i)."

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Martin's six-month suspension of his licence was suspended for two years, although another anti-doping breach within that time would immediately trigger the suspension. 

It is the third time in four years a horse trained by Martin has tested positive for a banned substance, after Moonmeister was disqualified from a Curragh win in 2019 after testing positive for a corticosteroid, as was last year's Down Royal bumper winner Patsy's Honour.

The report into Firstman's failed test noted that 3-Hydroxylidocaine, a metabolite of lidocaine, is a local anaesthetic used to block pain that is prohibited on raceday. Martin said the finding may have come about due to contaminated bedding at the racetrack, which was rejected by the panel, while an unannounced IHRB inspection at his yard on February 1 did not identify the source of the substance.

The hearing also heard that Firstman had been administered Cartrophen – which has anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties and was said by the IHRB's head of anti-doping Dr Lynn Hillyer to be "used to treat osteoarthritis in horses" – twice by two separate vets, Edele Gray and Donncha Houlihan, on the day before the race in question. Hillyer concluded that Firstman "must have had an issue that needed treating" but it wasn't established what that issue was.

Houlihan was also reported to have the same day administered Sarablock, which is described variously online as a form of nerve blocker.

Read this  next:

Trainer Tony Martin hit with suspended six-month ban after third winner in four years fails dope test 

Huge doping scandal hits Ireland as billionaire businessman Luke Comer banned for three years and hit with fines and costs of €840,754 

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