Irish coach John ‘Shark’ Hanlon has had his 10-month suspension for transporting a useless horse in public view in an open trailer lower to 6 months, with the potential of it being additional decreased to 3 months.
The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board’s disciplinary panel imposed the penalties in September on last year’s King George VI Chase winning trainer after discovering he had “prompted vital prejudice to the integrity, correct conduct and good popularity of the game of racing”.
The useless horse was carried on a trailer towed by Hanlon’s branded horsebox, with the physique left on show to the general public after a tarpaulin grew to become displaced throughout the journey.
A member of the general public videoed the incident and it was extensively circulated on social media.
Hanlon appealed the severity of the sanction, on account of start on 1 December, having been unsuccessful in trying to delay the start of the sanction to present him time to arrange a authorized case and make particular enterprise preparations.
The coach claimed the size of the ban did not have in mind earlier instances when 12-month suspensions had been handed out to coach Gordon Elliott and jockey Rob James over disrespect to deceased horses.
“Of their instances, the dearth of respect demonstrated to the carcass of the deceased animal in every case was deliberate and wilful. Mr Hanlon’s was not,” dominated the appeals panel.
“He was negligent albeit to a excessive diploma. We don’t suppose that the discount of the headline penalty from certainly one of 12 months withdrawal of licence to 10 months adequately addresses that main distinction.
“It additionally needs to be borne in thoughts that the negligence of Mr Hanlon occurred in a single exercise of comparatively quick period.”
Hanlon’s licence to coach will likely be withdrawn for a interval of six months from 1 December and the referrals committee might contemplate an software to conditionally droop the final three months of the six-month withdrawal sanction.
