The training career of one of Irish racing’s most recognisable figures, John “Shark” Hanlon, could be on the line when his appeal against the severity of a 10-month suspension for bringing the sport into disrepute is heard on Monday.
Hanlon’s rise to prominence, principally through the exploits of his bargain €850 purchase Hewick, has been one of racing’s most high-profile success stories in recent years. However, the Co Kilkenny trainer’s colourful image became tarnished in June when video emerged on social media of his branded horsebox towing a trailer that contained a dead horse through Paulstown village earlier in the year.
Hanlon said the carcass had been covered by a tarpaulin that blew off while it was being transported to a licensed animal disposal facility. He apologised for any distress caused.
The images became public shortly after an RTÉ Investigates programme relating to equine welfare issues that included reference to Hanlon.
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An Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) referrals committee decided Hanlon was “grossly negligent” in the transportation of the carcass and had caused “significant prejudice to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of the sport of horseracing.”
Their judgment, released last month, saw Hanlon suspended for 10 months, although he can reapply for his licence after five months if he complies with a series of conditions. He was also fined €2,000.
Monday’s hearing by an IHRB appeals panel is scheduled to start at 11am with a decision expected later in the day.
On Sunday, Hanlon labelled the IHRB’s suspension “very wrong” and said his racing career may be over if the suspension isn’t changed.
“It’s a disgrace what they’re doing. If I’d done something wrong, I’d put my hands up.
“I loaded the horse, I put a tarpaulin on the horse, it fell off coming down the road, which they accepted. I broke no law, and they still give me 10 months – it doesn’t add up,” he said.
Hanlon plans to send 30 of his string to Doncaster Sales next week, and predicted job losses at his yard, if the suspension stays the same. He also pointed to widespread support within racing from “not just the whole of Ireland but the whole world”.
He commented: “There are 30 horses going to Doncaster in 10 days’ time. All I’ll have left is probably five or six horses. There’s no way you can make a living out of five or six. If things don’t change, and I come back, I won’t have the staff. There’s going to be staff laid off and all those staff have young kids.
“It’s getting to me. I lost my father two weeks ago. The whole thing’s catching up with me now. I haven’t slept for six weeks. My heart’s gone out of the game, and I absolutely love the game and I done everything I could, with Hewick and everything, to involve people in racing.”
Hanlon referenced ITV’s Full Gallop documentary in which Hewick’s King George VI Chase success last Christmas featured prominently.
“The show we did, that didn’t happen in a day. All them lads were down in my yard for months, coming and going. I tried my best for racing, then this is what they do to me. The only good thing about it is the support we’re getting is unreal,” he said.
An online petition calling for Hanlon’s training license to be in reinstated was closing in on 2,000 signatures on Sunday afternoon. The suspension is currently set to start on December 1st. Hanlon had requested it be postponed to April, but the referrals panel turned him down because the extended period would “undermine the IHRB’s regulatory authority and the deterrent purpose of sanctions generally”.
Later this week there will be another high-profile hearing when Luke W Comer’s appeal against a one-year suspension of his training licence takes place on Thursday.
The son of billionaire businessman Luke Comer was suspended in August for damaging racing’s reputation arising from an incident in 2021 when decomposed horse carcasses were found on Comer’s property in Summerhill, Co Meath by Department of Agriculture inspectors.
The matter was brought to court in March of this year when Comer, who said he knew nothing about the matter but co-operated fully with officials, escaped a conviction and donated €20,000 to the ISPCA. The charges were struck out.
