The Appeals Body (Division 2), Mr. Justice Raymond Groarke, (in the chair), Mr. Laurence McFerran and Mr. Sean Barry convened at the Offices of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) on Tuesday 1st October 2019 to consider the Appeal of John Patrick Ryan (Trainer) against the decision of the Stewards at Sligo on 8th August 2019.

On the day, following the running of the Hop House 13 Lager Mares Maiden Hurdle, the Stewards received a report from Clerk of the Scales, Mr. P.L. Malone, that L. Quinlan, rider of Kilcarry View, placed first, had weighed in greater than 1lb light. Evidence on the day was heard from Mr. Ryan, Mr. Malone and Mr. Quinlan. Having considered the evidence, the Stewards were satisfied that there was a breach of Rule 231(i), in that L. Quinlan did not draw the correct weight and having been allowed 1lb by the Clerk of the Scales he was still unable to draw the weight. Under the provisions of Rule 231(i), the Stewards disqualified Kilcarry View.

The grounds of Appeal lodged by Mr. Ryan was that the Scales on the day were defective.

Evidence at the Appeal hearing was heard from Mr. Quinlan, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Gillian Ryan (daughter of John Patrick Ryan and Senior Project Engineer), Mr. Michael Fogarty (Mechanical Engineer), Mr. Malone, Mr. Alan McCormack (IHRB I.T. Manager) and Mr. Stephen McAvinchey (Gravitation Weighing Systems).

In his evidence, Mr. Quinlan outlined that he was surprised that he weighed in greater than 1lb light as he could not account for the weight discrepancy.

Mr. Ryan gave his evidence of weighing out Mr. Quinlan prior to the first race and his belief that it wasn’t possible for Mr. Quinlan to lose 1.2lbs between weighing out and weighing in.

Ms. Ryan and Mr. Fogarty outlined their qualifications and their understanding of how the Scales system on Irish racecourses operated.

Mr. Malone gave his evidence of the weighing out procedures before and after the race in question and also outlined his role as Clerk of the Scales.

In his evidence, Mr. McCormack gave details of the introduction of the new computer software involved in the latest Scales system used on Irish racecourses.

Mr. McAvinchey stated how Gravitation Weighing Systems have supplied scales to the IHRB since 1993 and gave a detailed account of the calibrations, verifications and tolerances involved with the Scales system used on Irish racecourses.

Having considered the evidence, the Appeals Body dismissed the appeal.

The case was presented by Cliodhna Guy, Head of Legal, Licensing & Compliance.