Luke Comer Jr. wins appeal on disrepute charges over ban postponement from 12 months to three months

Luke Comer jnr has been successful in his appeal against a 12-month suspension after being found guilty by the steering committee of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) of bringing racing into disrepute after numerous decomposed horse carcasses were found on his land in 2021.

The ban, which was to begin on December 1, has been reduced to three months and will be suspended on condition that Comer pays a fine of 15,000 euros and commits no further violations.

The suspension stemmed from an unannounced inspection of Comer’s premises in March 2021 after a former employee of the trainer telephoned the IHRB’s chief veterinary officer, Dr Lynn Hillyer, to raise concerns about the welfare of horses at the yard.

During a later examination, numerous horse bones from foals and adult horses, including seven skulls, were seen in a wooded area on Ginnets Manor. The fact that most of them were in their anatomical positions showed that there was distortion in place and the bones were clean from flesh and skin.

Following the conclusion of a case brought by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the IHRB launched an investigation and a referral panel found Comer guilty of bringing racing into disrepute, suspended his license for a year and ordered him to pay €20,000. to the retraining of the racehorse group Treo Eile.

In reaching its decision, the appeals board noted that the referral committee concluded that the dead horses belonged to Comer while he was alive and found “significant negligence,” but the board maintained that the owner of the horses was unknown and could not find any evidence. Supporting the committee’s finding.

The court also found that there was no evidence that Comer was guilty of violating horse welfare or that he improperly disposed of the carcasses, given such a finding “presumed that Mr. Comer was in possession of or responsible for the dead horses.”

Testimony from two veterinarians and an employee showed that there were no welfare issues at Comer’s facilities and that “an appropriate disposal system was in place.”

Sentencing, he said: “If the IHRB had alleged that Mr Comer was guilty of these matters and provided evidence supporting the allegations, the sentence determined by the referral committee could not have been criticized. But it did not do so.”

The appeal body set aside the steering committee’s decision on the Treo Eile contribution, stating that “it is not desirable for a regulatory body to go beyond what is stipulated in the rules through enforcement in applying its own regime.”

It was decided that instead of donating €10,000 each year to a horse welfare charity, Comer would pay €15,000 payable to the IHRB.

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