Horseracing board boss defends three-year ban on trainer Luke Comer as ‘appropriate’

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) has defended the three-year licence withdrawal handed out to billionaire businessman trainer Luke Comer after 12 of his horses tested positive for anabolic steroids.

The length of the ban given to Comer, after what ranks as Irish racing’s most extensive drug scandal, has provoked some criticism in terms of its comparative leniency.

Earlier this year, Co Armagh-based permit holder Ronan McNally, who combined training with operating a kitchen-fitting business, got a record 12-year disqualification after a lengthy investigation into the improvement in form of some of his horses at the centre of high-profile gambles.

[ Billionaire horse trainer Luke Comer banned for doping offences ]

[ Subscriber Only: Vindication for IHRB as Luke Comer hit with three-year training ban ]

In 2013, Britain’s racing authorities banned the Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni for eight years after he admitted giving 15 horses anabolic steroids.

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An IHRB referrals committee chaired by Mr Justice Brian McGovern could not establish how the steroids metandienone and/or methyltestosterone were found in a dozen of Comer’s horses when testing was carried out at his Kiltiernan stables in 2021 and concluded no deliberate doping had taken place.

Comer has denied vehemently that he or his staff administered the prohibited substances and suggested environmental contamination could have occurred.

The committee report released on Thursday showed how the co-founder of the Comer Group, one of the biggest property firms in Europe, argued against the reliability of the hair testing which threw up the dozen positive test results. Luke Comer has until next week to lodge an appeal against the ban which is due to start on January 1st, 2024.

IHRB chief executive Darragh O’Loughlin played a straight bat to criticism of the length of licence withdrawal.

“The sanction that was imposed on Mr Comer was in respect of breaches of the anti-doping rules. It was in respect of adverse findings in 12 horses and it’s the sanction that the referrals committee, with an independent chairman, thought was appropriate in these circumstances,” he said.

Comer, who has had eight winners from 277 runners on the flat in Ireland so far this year, for a 3 per cent overall strike rate, will be represented at Navan on Saturday where his runner Force Of The Moon lines up in a maiden hurdle.

Legal costs

Even if he opts not to appeal the IHRB penalties, which also include fines of €85,000 and massive legal costs to the regulator alone of more than €750,000, Comer will continue to be able to enter and run horses until January 1st.

“It’s at the committee’s discretion and I can’t guess their thinking on why they chose that specific date,” said O’Loughlin on Friday. “But what we do know is that where trainer’s licences are suspended for breaches of the rules, it does take them some time to get their affairs in order, to ensure continuing care for the horses in their charge.”

Trainer Denis Hogan is serving a three-month licence suspension after saddling four winners in five years who had to be disqualified after failing drug tests. That penalty was handed out in June and had been due to start in August only for Hogan to successfully argue for a postponement to September so his staff and owners would suffer as little inconvenience as possible.

[ Twelve horses from Comer string test positive for anabolic steroids  ]

During the nine-day hearing into the Comer case which took place in May, evidence on behalf of the leading businessman was heard from 11 experts in fields that included toxicology, pharmacology and veterinary science.

Some of their evidence was critical regarding the reliability of hair testing in horses, but the IHRB chief executive stood over the practice.

“Hair sampling and hair testing is an accepted matrix for anti-doping programmes in horse racing around the world,” said O’Loughlin. For our samples, we are using LGC laboratories in Newmarket, one of only six laboratories in the world that’s accredited by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. They’re operating to the highest standards and there has not been any question of the validity of hair testing in terms of anti-doping previously. There should not be any questions in the future regarding the validity of hair testing.”

On Saturday, the Comer-owned and trained Force Of The Moon will be ridden by Ricky Doyle when he has a fifth career start in a maiden hurdle due off at 4.30.