THE Turf Club have decided to withdraw James O'Keeffe's permit to train with immediate effect and instructed that no application for a renewal of the permit be considered by the licensing committee before January 1st, 1998.

The appeals and referrals committee met on Tuesday to consider two reports from Turf Club officials. The first concerned an alleged breach of rule 148 (vi) and the instruction in the rule book under the heading Horses in Training by permit holder O'Keeffe in connection with the horse Rathbawn Prince.

The second report concerned an alleged breach of rule 147 (ii) by Stephen Cox with regard to the training of Rathbawn Prince.

It was outlined to the committee the background to the alleged breaches, namely that O'Keeffe effectively never trained Rathbawn Prince and that on both occasions he appeared on the racecourse he had been in the custody and care of Cox. Neither O'Keeffe or Cox disputed the findings.

The committee fined Cox £1,000 and suspended Rathbawn Prince for 60 days from yesterday. They also sustained objections under rule 262 (vii) and disqualified Rathbawn Prince from first place in the Killashee INH Flat race at Punchestown (Do-Ye-Know Wha is now the official winner) on October 3rd and from fourth place in the Dundrum INH Flat Race at Leopardstown on October 26th.

The committee took into consideration O'Keeffe's good record and the open and honest manner in which both he and Cox co-operated in the case.

Waterford Crystal yesterday announced details of a new sponsorship, the Waterford Crystal Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Awards, to honour breeders of outstanding Flat and National Hunt bred horses in Ireland. The awards will be presented on Saturday, January 18th in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham and the guest of honour will be Ivan Yates, Minister for Agriculture.