Tony Martin suspension on hold as trainer seeks judicial review from the High Court over anti-doping case

Tony Martin's three-month suspension for breaking anti-doping rules will not start on Wednesday as expected after the Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer applied to the High Court for a judicial review of his case and a decision won't be made until Thursday morning. 

The case concerns Firstman, who tested positive for lidocaine, a local anaesthetic prohibited on racedays, following an emphatic victory in a Dundalk handicap in January last year.

Martin was originally hit with a suspended sentence of six months, along with a €10,000 fine, but the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board appealed against the leniency of that punishment and were successful with only three months of his suspension suspended. 

That suspension was due to start on Wednesday and not end until August 15, but Martin has gone to the High Court seeking a judicial review. 

Martin's solicitor Kevin Power said: "The judge will deliver his decision on Thursday morning at 10.30am, so that means his suspension does not start tomorrow [Wednesday]."

Back in 2016, Martin also went to the High Court seeking a judicial review after Pyromaniac was found guilty under the non-trier rule at Killarney. 

Martin's legal team challenged the decision of what was then the Turf Club to ban the horse for 42 days and they were granted a judicial review by Judge Richard Humphreys which allowed the horse to run in that year's Galway Hurdle, which he finished seventh in. 

The High Court later quashed all penalties in relation to the Pyromaniac case. 

Firstman was the third Martin-trained winner in four years to fail a drugs test. The trainer has five Grade 1s to his name as well as a whole host of the biggest handicaps, including four Galway Hurdles, a County Hurdle and a Coral Cup. 

Last week, Martin sent out Zanndabad to finish third in the Chester Cup, while Alphonse Le Grande led home stablemate Hamsiyann in a 1-2 for the stable in the Chester Plate. 

Read these next:

Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer Tony Martin to lose licence for three months from May after breaking anti-doping rules 

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

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

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