Flynn slams regulator after vaccination issue bars horse from Leopardstown run

Trainer Paul Flynn has described the regulator’s strict policing of vaccinations as "an absolute disgrace" and made an impassioned plea for more understanding after he was denied the chance to run Dessie's Diamond at Leopardstown on Thursday.

Dessie's Diamond’s vaccinations are up to date and the horse has run six times in Britain since the vaccination in question was administered in February 2018, before he came into Flynn’s care.

For that vaccination, the vet stamped the passport but did not sign it, and Flynn is adamant that should be sufficient. He took to Facebook on Thursday night to vent his anger in a lengthy post, stressing how such a heavy-handed policy costs trainers dearly.

On Saturday, Flynn argued there was no stipulation in the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board rulebook that stated a horse could not run in such circumstances.

Read Paul Flynn's Facebook post

“It doesn't say anywhere in the rule book that it has to be signed – it says it has to be endorsed,” the Galway Hurdle-winning trainer insisted.

“It’s an absolute disgrace. A stamp is an endorsement in any other jurisdiction, including in Britain, and it’s a lot easier to forge a signature than it is to get a vet’s stamp.

“The second part of that rule relates to a clerical error, and they are allowed to run on that. Mine was a clerical error on the vet's behalf; he stamped it but didn't sign it.

"On that basis the horse should be allowed to run, but instead we had an owner who had flown over from Thailand and now has flown back again without seeing the horse run. I don't think that reflects well on Irish racing."

Annie Mc: barred from running at Fairyhouse this yearCredit: Getty Images

A similar discrepancy prompted the controversial withdrawal of the Jonjo O’Neill-trained Annie Mc at Fairyhouse last Easter, among others.

Flynn said: “It is happening regularly and it's a bad outcome for everybody. The vet seems to have too much responsibility on this.

“I’d tried to do everything by the book and didn’t run the horse at Cork recently because he was due a vaccine and I got that done instead, so it seems very harsh and unfair to then be condemned like this.

"You put so much into preparing for a race like Thursday’s. I'm not saying he'd have won but we'd all had a bit of 33s and were hoping he'd run well. Family and friends had come up, so it was a big deal for a small yard and it ended on a pretty sour note.

“It’s something that is happening regularly and is a system that is gradually putting small trainers out of business. Surely British and Irish racing should be singing from the same hymn sheet on something like this, but there is no common sense applied here.”

In response, an IHRB spokesman stressed that it was adhering to Veterinary Council standards and that a clear directive was issued to trainers on this issue in November 2018.

"A withdrawal due to a vaccination irregularity is wholly avoidable if vaccinations are checked by trainers in advance," the spokesman added.

"The IHRB has also made a facility available for trainers who can have passports validated in advance at our offices so as to ensure that passports presented at the racecourse comply with the rules.

"We have the utmost sympathy for any owner or trainer whose horse cannot run because of a vaccination irregularity and only recently the IHRB abolished fines as we believe that the penalty of being unable to run is a sufficient penalty."

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