Billionaire businessman Luke Comer is weighing up legal options after his failed appeal against a three-year suspension of his license to train racehorses which begins in a fortnight.
Monaco-based Comer will be banned from training on July 15th following a decision last week by an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board appeals panel.
It made the final move in racing’s disciplinary process by rejecting Comer’s argument against the suspension imposed following this country’s most extensive doping scandal which saw a dozen of his horses test positive for anabolic steroids.
That occurred after an unannounced IHRB raid on his stables near Kiltiernan, Co Dublin in 2021. A referrals panel hearing last year couldn’t establish how the drugs got in the horses and it found no evidence of deliberate doping. But Comer was found responsible as the license holder.
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The 66-year-old property developer, holder of a licence since 1991, has previously pledged to use his resources to fight for his reputation, insisting he is “1,000% innocent”. That has prompted speculation as to the potential for the matter to enter the courts.
On Monday, solicitor Andrew Coonan, part of Comer’s legal team during the three-day appeals hearing in May, would not elaborate on the likelihood of any upcoming legal battle.
“My client is reviewing the appeals body judgement, and a decision has yet to be made on this,” he said.
Last week’s appeals body statement referenced a separate disciplinary case involving trainer Tony Martin who last month failed to secure a judicial review from the High Court of his three-month licence suspension from the IHRB. Martin applied for such a review on the eve of his ban beginning.
The multiple Cheltenham Festival winner was suspended after the IHRB successfully appealed the leniency of an original sanction handed out after Martin breached anti-doping rules last year. It remains to be seen if Comer will apply for a judicial review into his case.
The appeals panel chaired by Justice Peter Kelly said in their statement last Thursday: “In approaching the question of sanction, one has to bear in mind that the presence of prohibited and especially prohibited at all times substances in racehorses strikes at the heart of Irish racing. It damages the integrity and reputation of the sport.”
It added: “It is undoubtedly the case that no allegation was made by the IHRB and no finding made by the referrals committee or by us, that these substances were deliberately administered.
“But it also is the case that Mr Comer failed to provide, on the balance of probabilities, a reasonable explanation for what occurred. The prohibited substances were not found in a single horse, but rather in approximately 10% of the horses being trained by Mr Comer.”
Comer is free to enter and race his horses until July 15th and is set to run seven of them at Roscommon on Tuesday evening. They include five runners alone in the concluding maiden event.
There has also been speculation within racing as to what Comer’s reaction to his failed appeal is likely to be, including in relation to the horses trained at his Kiltiernan premises, and perhaps his commitment to the sport generally.
His son, Luke Comer Jnr, also holds a licence to train but is an infrequent presence with less than 60 runners in the last five years. He had a single winner in 2018.
The businessman is also a significant sponsor, including backing the €600,000 Comer Group Irish St Leger at the Curragh in September, the second day of the Irish Champions Festival.
In other news, west Cork trainer John Murphy is set to take the fight to Aidan O’Brien’s superstar Derby winner City Of Troy in Saturday’s Coral Eclipse at Sandown.
A total of 11 entries remain in the 1¼ mile highlight where City Of Troy will take on older horses for the first time. He was immediately installed an 8/15 favourite by the sponsors who rate Murphy’s White Birch his biggest danger.
Unbeaten in three starts to date this season, White Birch turned the tables on O’Brien’s 2023 Derby hero Auguste Rodin in style when winning at the highest level for the first time in May’s Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh.
O’Brien has also left in a trio of older runners in Luxembourg, Continuous and Hans Andersen while his son Joseph has the option of running Al Riffa. He failed to fire on his last start at Saratoga. Two other notable three-year-old candidates are Ghostwriter and Dancing Gemini.
It is a busy Tuesday in Ireland with two fixtures and Roscommon hosts the Listed Lenebane Stakes in the evening.
Dylan Browne McMonagle has opted for Raise You over Joseph O’Brien’s other hope Deakin, a relatively straightforward pick on ratings. However, Deakin’s Royal Ascot effort from a wide draw was commendable and that Crystal Black form could get a boost.
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