Shark Hanlon has ten-month ban reduced on appeal

Shark Hanlon has had his ten-month ban handed to him for bringing racing into disrepute reduced to six months on appeal.

Hanlon will have his training licence suspended from December 1, after an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) appeals body elected to reduce the original ten-month ban handed out last month by a referrals committee.

Last season's King George-winning trainer was handed the original ban and fined €2,000 for transporting a dead horse in an open trailer attached to one of his branded lorries, with the carcass fully visible to the public.

Shark Hanlon: argued that the ten-month sanction was "unduly harsh"Credit: Patrick McCann

The incident, which occurred in June, was filmed and subsequently widely shared on social media. The referrals committee labelled the trainer's conduct as "grossly negligent" and "injurious to the good reputation of the sport".

As a result of the impending suspension, Hanlon offered 24 of his horses at the Goffs UK October Horses in Training Sale on Tuesday, when 15 sold for a total of £113,000.

Hanlon can apply to have the final three months of the ban suspended, provided the referrals committee is satisfied that he has fulfilled a number of conditions, including not knowingly participating in any training-related activities and not entering any weighing room, parade ring or any other area of a racecourse restricted to licensees of the IHRB.

Hanlon, in appealing against the original decision, put it to the appeals body that the referrals committee made an error in principle and that his breach of rule 272, which relates to conduct prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct or good reputation of horseracing, could be sufficiently dealt with by the imposition of a financial penalty. This was rejected as the appeals body asserted that his "conduct passed the threshold of attracting only a financial penalty" and upheld the original fine.

He also argued that the ten-month sanction was "unduly harsh" and "failed to adequately take account of the differences between this and other similar cases dealing with post mortem equine events".

The body considered two previous cases involving Gordon Elliott and Rob James from March 2021, both of which resulted in 12-month suspensions. It referenced both cases, noting "the lack of respect demonstrated to the carcass of the deceased animal in each case was deliberate and wilful", while Hanlon's conduct was not.

In coming to the conclusion that a shorter sanction of six months should be imposed, it was noted that Hanlon's "negligence occurred in a single activity of relatively short duration" and the original ban may have been justified if there were "continuing acts of negligence".

The incident in question involved Hanlon removing a deceased racehorse from a paddock at Ballygorteen, County Kilkenny, around 37km from his yard in Bagenalstown, with the intention of transporting it to a knackery in County Carlow. The carcass was placed in an open trailer and drawn by a horsebox which was adorned with images identifying it as the property of the trainer.

Hanlon made attempts to conceal the carcass by way of a tarpaulin, but it unfastened by the time the trailer reached the village of Paulstown and the horse's corpse was fully visible to members of the public when the footage was taken. Once the video began to circulate, the IHRB initiated an investigation on June 16.

Hanlon subsequently apologised for "any distress" the footage may have caused and explained that the piece of tarpaulin had come undone in transit.

Read these next:

'When you're selling horses here, it's a lonely day' - Shark Hanlon dispersal heads through the ring at Goffs UK 

Shark Hanlon 'hopeful' of getting licence back after fellow trainer Edward O'Grady fights his corner at appeal 

Shark Hanlon 'surprised and disappointed' at ten-month suspension over transport of dead horse in open trailer 

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