Trainer fined £5,000 after leaving two horses in lorry overnight at Ayr

Trainer Liam Lennon was fined £5,000 following a disciplinary hearing on Monday after he was found to have breached three rules of racing, including those concerning the welfare of horses.

The case centred on the Northern Ireland-based Lennon leaving two horses in his lorry overnight at Ayr racecourse last year.

The trainer transported five horses from his County Down yard via ferry to Ayr on February 28, 2021, three horses to race at the track the following day and two unnamed horses to be collected by Northumberland permit-holder Hugh Burns.

The three horses due to race were housed in the racecourse stables, but the other two spent the night together in the trainer's lorry in the lorry park and despite hay, water and bedding were found to "look empty" by a BHA veterinary officer the following morning.

Lennon, who won the Foxhunter at the Cheltenham Festival in 2014 with Tammys Hill, accepted he contravened the rules by taking two unvaccinated horses on to racecourse property, but disputed the welfare charge and that of failing to cooperate with a BHA investigation.

Tammys Hill and James Smyth after their victory in the 2014 FoxhunterCredit: Patrick McCann

However, a three-person independent panel found him guilty of all three charges and fined him £2,500 for breaching rules on welfare, £650 for taking unvaccinated horses on to racecourse property and £1,850 for failing to cooperate with the BHA in its investigation.

Lennon defended himself at the hearing as he said he could not afford a barrister. He claimed he had no option other than to take the two unnamed horses to Ayr after he received a call from Burns to say there was a problem with the transport arranged to pick them up on February 28.

However, this contradicted information gathered at a stewards' inquiry at Ayr the following day when Lennon and Burns were present and it was said the call was only received at 10am on March 1.

This led to the BHA's Daniel Frier saying the evidence given that the plan was for the horses to be transported on February 28 was "not credible".

Lennon also claimed the horses were given a leg stretch between getting off the ferry and arriving at Ayr.

The BHA raised concerns about the presence of fixtures and fittings in the horsebox, the size of space for two horses together and a lack of any proper supervision.

Lennon said: "With the situation I found myself in that day, I felt it was the most appropriate action and if I found myself in that position again I'd do the same. However, I don't think I'll find myself in that position again."

Delivering the verdict, chair Brian Barker KC, said: "In our view, even if there was a 15-20 minute break on the road, these horses were in a confined space for getting on 20 hours and had endured sea and road travel.

"These rules are essential for all horses and looking at the picture overall, you were below the line of what should be expected. We accepted in the end the horses weren't particularly distressed but that may well have been fortunate and the fact of the matter is a high standard is expected."

Lennon was accused of not cooperating with and being rude to BHA officials at Ayr and then he failed to provide other information, such as tachograph data from his truck – which he did not have – when requested to at a later date.

Barker added: "You weren't clear for those who were entitled to know under the rules of racing about that and in our view you were evasive, weren't helpful and didn't deal with the problem they were addressing."

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