Pyromaniac may still run at Galway with legal action imminent

Trainer Tony Martin has said both he and the owner of Pyromaniac, Newtown Anner Stud, are taking legal advice on the back of yesterday’s decision by the Turf Club’s Referrals Committee to maintain a 42 day ban on the horse which rules him out of next week’s Galway festival.

Pyromaniac had been one of the leading contenders in ante-post betting lists for Thursday’s Guinness Galway Hurdle prior to yesterday’s controversial Referrals Committee hearing when an appeal against the suspension picked up at Killarney last week under one section of Rule 212, was successful only for the committee to decide another section of the Turf Club rules had been breached and that the horse would remain suspended from racing for 42 days.

Among the legal options now believed to be open to the horse’s connections is an application to the High Court on Monday for a Judicial Review of Thursday’s decision which could open up a route for Pyromaniac to appear after all at Galway next week.

Yesterday Martin also successfully appealed against a €2,000 fine under the same ‘non-trier’ rule after arguing that an issue with Pyromaniac’s teeth, discovered the day after the race at Killarney, had impacted on his performance in the race.

While accepting that argument, the Committee decided Martin had breached a rule which states that “horse shall not be run in races where they are in a condition which would preclude their chances of winning” and fined him €1,000 although they stressed the trainer hadn’t been negligent.

“Whatever about me, the owner and the horse don’t deserve what’s happening. I accept the stewards have a very difficult job to do but I feel we will have to pursue this further for the sake of the owner and the horse. I will be advised by the legal people but the owner has done nothing to deserve this,” Martin said.

As regards Pyromaniac running at Galway next week, the trainer added: “The horse has done nothing wrong and if there are races at Galway that suit him then we will look at them. The Galway Hurdle looks an obvious race.”

A Turf Club spokesman declined to comment on the matter.