Shark Hanlon appeal date set in last chance to save his training business
Hewick trainer Hanlon has said his career is "all over" after being hit with 10-month suspension by IHRB
A date has now been set for trainer John ‘Shark’ Hanlon’s appeal against the severity of a 10-month suspension handed down to him last month.
The popular Carlow-based trainer was banned by an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) disciplinary panel for 10 months and fined €2,000 for transporting a dead horse in public view in an open trailer.
Hanlon apologised and said a tarpaulin covering the deceased animal became displaced during the journey but the IHRB panel said he caused reputational damage to racing.
They said he was "grossly negligent in the supervision of the transport of the horse carcass" and that there was "high culpability" on his part.
Hanlon has admitted in interviews that the ban, which begins on December 1, will mean his training business is “all over” and he plans to put 30 of his horses up for sale.
"I've got 30 horses to go to the sales now. It took me 15-20 years to build my yard and now it's all over so we're appealing but I don't think it will make any difference,” he said late last month after training a winner at Sedgefield.
Hanlon has now been given a date for his appeal against the severity of the suspension, which will mean his star chaser Hewick will be sent to a different trainer.
The IHRB has confirmed that Hanon’s appeal will be heard next Monday (October 14th) and has said the appeal is in relation to the severity of the penalty rather than the sanction itself.
Hanlon can reapply for his licence after five months if certain IHRB conditions are met but he has already said he’s making plans to let his staff go.
“I feel very sorry for the staff,” he said. “There are 14 or 15 in work, all with young families. They are going to have no jobs. There are people living here who will have to leave their homes and have nowhere to live after December 1.
“I just feel we’ve been very badly done by,” he said. “Was I to leave the horse in the field and let the crows and the foxes eat him? I done the right thing by taking the horse out of the field. It was just a mishap that the tarp fell off.
Hanlon continues to train and has 11 horses entered to run this week but but that will come to an end in December, if he fails to get the sentence lifted.
His appeal is likely to be based on quotes given following that winner at Sedgefield where he also said: “I don’t think they put a lot of thought into what they’ve done. If we’d done something very wrong you would put your hands up, but I honestly believe I done what was right.
“I didn’t deliberately come down to Paulstown with the cover off the horse. The cover was put on the horse and from the horsebox you couldn’t see it had blown off.”
Shark has enjoyed great success in recent times with his €800 purchase Hewick, who won the King George Chase at Kempton last December and the American Grand National in 2022.
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