Luke Comer jnr wins appeal on disrepute charge as ban reduced from 12 months to three months suspended

Luke Comer jnr has been successful in his appeal against a 12-month suspension after being found guilty by an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's (IHRB) referrals committee of bringing racing into disrepute following the discovery of several decomposed horse carcasses on his land in 2021. 

The ban, commencing on December 1, has been reduced to three months, which will be suspended on condition Comer pays a €15,000 fine and commits no further breaches.

The suspension arose from an unannounced inspection of Comer's premises in March 2021 after a former employee of the trainer expressed concern regarding the welfare of horses in the yard via a telephone call to Dr Lynn Hillyer, the chief veterinary officer at the IHRB.

During a subsequent inspection, numerous horse bones from foals and adult horses were visible in a forested area at Ginnets Estate, including seven skulls. Many were in their anatomical location, indicating degradation in situ and the bones were clean of flesh and hide.

Following the conclusion of a court case taken by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the IHRB launched an investigation and a referrals panel found Comer guilty of bringing racing into disrepute, suspended his licence for a year and ordered him to pay €20,000 to the retraining of racehorses group Treo Eile.

In reaching the decision, the appeals body noted the referrals committee concluded the dead horses belonged to Comer when alive and made a finding of "significant carelessness", but the body asserted the ownership of the horses was unknown and it was unable to find any evidence to support the committee finding.

It also found that there was no evidence to suggest Comer was guilty of any breach of horse welfare or that he had improperly disposed of the carcasses given such a finding "presupposes that Mr Comer either owned or was responsible for the dead horses".

Evidence from two vets and an employee indicated there were no welfare issues at Comer's premises and "there was a proper system of disposal in place".

In delivering the penalty, it said: "Had the IHRB alleged that Mr Comer was guilty of those matters and produced evidence in support of the allegations, then the penalty fixed by the referrals committee could not be criticised. But it did not do so."

The appeals body set aside the decision of the referrals committee on the Treo Eile contribution, noting it is not "desirable that a regulatory body should, in enforcing its regime, go outside what is provided for in the rules by way of sanction".

Rather than making a contribution of €10,000 each year to a horse welfare charity, Comer has instead been ordered to pay €15,000, payable to the IHRB.

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