The Referrals Committee, Mr. N.B. Wachman, (in the Chair), Mr. Joseph M. McGrath and Mr. John Murphy met at the Offices of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB), The Curragh, Co. Kildare on Tuesday, 13th November 2018 to consider the referral of Thomas P. O’Connor, Trainer by the Stewards at Cork on 21st October 2018.
On the day following the running of the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Rated Novice Steeplechase, the Stewards interviewed Thomas P. O’Connor concerning the behaviour of this horse who misbehaved at the start before unseating his rider passing the stable yard. Having viewed a recording of both incidents and considered the evidence, the Stewards referred the matter to the Referrals Committee under Rule 14(iii).
The Referrals Committee viewed the recording of the race including the incident at the start of the race. In his evidence Mr. O’Connor stated the horse is a difficult one who requires specific handling during races. He noted that the rider on the day did not follow the instructions given despite being familiar with the horse and also that the horse had ran twice since 21st October and there had been no further issues.
Having considered the evidence the Referrals Committee found that the horse had misbehaved and in doing so could have adversely impacted other horses in the race. However, they noted that in subsequent runs the horse had behaved appropriately and took that into account in mitigation. They imposed a thirty day suspension on Lilshane to commence on November 14th.
The case was presented by Cliodhna Guy, Head of Licensing, Legal & Compliance.