IHRB chief Denis Egan describes 'shock' over IRTA allegations of entrapment

Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) chief executive Denis Egan described himself as shocked at allegations made by the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association (IRTA) that the regulator's head of security Chris Gordon tried to entrap Liz Doyle on the morning her yard was inspected in March 2014.

Egan was speaking from the witness box at the High Court on day nine of the ongoing defamation case that Gordon initiated against the IRTA almost six years ago.

"I was shocked," he said, in relation to a letter drafted by Frank Ward Solicitors on behalf of the IRTA in which the allegations were made.

He added: "If the allegations had been true, from the point of view of the regulator, I would have been horrified. If something like that had happened it would be completely unacceptable."

Chris Gordon: awarded €300,000 in damagesCredit: Patrick McCann

The letter of complaint, which was sent to the Turf Club after Doyle's stable was inspected, was read out in court.

It read: "We [the IRTA] believe the allegation of Miss Doyle's name being found on a lodgement docket in connection with Mr Hughes's [John Hughes, disgraced former vet] bank account was untrue and uttered by Mr Gordon in the hope of entrapping Miss Doyle into an admission of some wrongdoing, which might jeopardise or destroy her professional reputation as a horse trainer.

“Miss Doyle considers, as indeed do our clients, that this misconduct on the part of Mr Gordon is entirely reprehensible and reflects very poorly on the integrity of the Turf Club.”

This was the letter that Gordon described during cross examination last week as a "letter of execution".

Egan commented: “In my 25 years at the Turf Club, and I can't speak for the previous 200 years, but the Turf Club has never, ever set out to entrap anybody.

“If one of our racing officials went out to entrap somebody or if they produced a false document, they wouldn't be working in the Turf Club. It is completely and absolutely unacceptable if something like that happened.”

Egan went on to reveal a controversial interview published in the Irish Field newspaper with IRTA chairman Noel Meade, which is a key strand to Gordon's defamation case, prompted the regulators to seek legal guidance from their own in-house solicitors.

Noel Meade: 'Thanks to this initiative people will have unlimited virtual access to many training yards across the country while staying safe at home.”Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

After a number of different options were put to them, the IHRB opted for a right to reply in that newspaper rather than pursuing the matter legally with the IRTA.

The IHRB chief also admitted to writing Liz Doyle’s name, followed by a question mark, on the book of evidence the then Turf Club obtained from the Department Of Agriculture following the case against John Hughes, a retired department vet who was found in possession of 6kg of the steroid Nitrotain.

It was in a meeting with the Department Of Agriculture prior to the Doyle yard inspection that Egan wrote on the book of evidence.

He explained: "We had a general discussion as to who the initials belonged to. I suggested that the LD, perhaps, could be Liz Doyle.

“That's why I wrote it over on the left-hand side with a question mark. When I made that suggestion, it was at the back of my mind that I'd seen her name on the anonymous letter.”

He added: “But it was only a suggestion and it was never any stronger than that. She was the only trainer at the time who had those initials.”

It is understood that Avril Doyle, Liz Doyle’s mother, rejected Egan’s explanation at the time and maintained that the document that was produced on the morning of the investigation is different to the one which has been produced in court.

Egan told the court that the Doyles believe there are five key differences to the document which has been discussed in court and the one the Doyles believe they were shown that morning. The case continues in the High Court on Wednesday morning.

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