John ‘Shark” Hanlon has had his licence withdrawn for ten months for “gross negligence” relating to the transportation of a deceased horse.
The ban was given following a hearing before the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board disciplinary panel.
Hanlon, who trains last year’s King George VI Chase hero Hewick, was found to have acted in a manner that “brought about important prejudice to the integrity, correct conduct and good repute of the game of racing” in the removal of a dead horse from his yard earlier this year.
The horse was carried on an open trailer which was towed by Hanlon’s branded horsebox, with the body left on display to the public after a tarpaulin became displaced during the journey.
A member of the public videoed the incident and it was widely circulated on social media, which attracted further media attention and led to the IHRB bringing charges against Hanlon, saying the conduct “attracted important public opprobrium and opposed remark” both for the trainer personally and racing in general.
Following a hearing on August 30, the disciplinary panel were satisfied Hanlon had breached rule 272(i) in that he was “grossly negligent within the supervision of the transport of the horse carcass on the day in query” and there was “excessive culpability” on his part.
They said inadequate measures had been taken to secure the tarpaulin before the journey began and felt Hanlon’s “gross negligence” merited a 10-month withdrawal of his licence and a €2,000 fine.
Hanlon told the PA news agency: “There’s going to be an attraction put in right away, that’s one factor, and I am unable to say an excessive amount of at this stage as my authorized crew have suggested me to not say an excessive amount of.
“But we are very surprised and very disappointed with the results of the hearing.”
Nonetheless, following admissions from Hanlon on the morning of the listening to “regarding his conduct and the consequences thereof”, plus an unannounced inspection of his yard that confirmed no welfare points and no related earlier rule breaches, the IHRB left the door open to later halving his suspension.
The ruling acknowledged: “The Committee is disposed to consider a future application to conditionally suspend the last five months of the 10 month withdrawal sanction. The possible partial suspension of such a sanction to reflect mitigating factors is consistent with the previous approach of this Committee.”
