The Referrals Committee, Mr. Laurence McFerran (in the chair), Mr. Anthony Byrne and Mr. John Murphy convened at the Offices of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board on Tuesday 13th December 2022 to consider whether Mr. Gearoid Brouder (Trainer) was in breach of any of the Rules of Racing having moved his training operation and horses from his licensed premises at Dunlavin, Co Wicklow to an unlicensed premises at Caragh, Naas, Co Kildare on or about the middle of August 2022.
At the Referral Hearing, evidence was heard from Ms. Colleen Murphy, IHRB Authorised Officer and Mr. Brouder.
Ms. Murphy gave evidence of the inspection carried out on 27th September 2022, firstly at a premises in Dunlavin, Co Wicklow which was licensed to Mr. Brouder and secondly at a premises in Caragh, Naas, Co Kildare. She noted that on arrival at the premises in Dunlavin the yard was empty and on querying where Mr. Brouder and the horses returned in training under his license were, the IHRB Officials were advised that he had moved to a different premises in Caragh. The IHRB team then proceeded to that yard and confirmed that the horses were there and spoke to Mr. Brouder.
The Committee was also provided with copies of correspondence from August advising Mr. Brouder what was required in order to change licensed yards along with the necessary paperwork, however he confirmed that the paperwork had not been submitted. It was noted that upon confirmation that Mr. Brouder had moved premises without complying with the requirements of the Rules, the IHRB Licensing Committee had suspended his licence and had referred the matter to the Referrals Committee for consideration.
In his evidence, Gearoid Brouder outlined the reasons behind his change of yard. He advised that it was an administrative error which led to his failure to deliver the paperwork to the IHRB and apologised for the oversight.
Having considered the evidence, the Referrals Committee were satisfied that Mr. Brouder was in breach of Rule 147 (vi) in that if a Trainer wishes to change the Training Establishment, he may only train horses from such establishment once it had been inspected and approved by the IHRB. Furthermore, the Committee found Mr. Brouder in breach of Rule 148 (vi), in that a Trainer must notify the Registry Office immediately when a horse leaves his yard; Rule 272 (i) in that he acted in a manner which was prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct or good reputation of horseracing; Rule 272 (ii) in that he supplied misleading or false information to a Racing Official and Rule 273 (xiii) in that he acted in a manner which was prejudicial to the interests of the IHRB or likely to cause serious damage to the interests of horseracing in Ireland.
In relation to the breaches, the Referrals Committee imposed a twelve month withdrawal of his licence backdated to the date the Licensing Committee suspended his licence (29th September 2022). They advised that the latter six months of the withdrawal would be suspended and that Mr. Brouder would have leave to apply for a licence from March 2023. Furthermore, they clarified that any decision to grant a licence would be at the discretion of the Licensing Committee considering the application. They also ordered that should a license be granted, any breaches within a twelve month period from the date of granting would cause the suspended portion of the withdrawal to be activated, in addition to any other sanction that may be applied at that time.
The case was presented by Ms. Clíodhna Guy, IHRB Head of Licensing, Legal and Compliance.