Amateur hit with 21-day ban for altercation with fellow jockey - but free for big Cheltenham ride

Leading point-to-point rider James Hannon has been suspended for 21 point-to-point racedays following an altercation with fellow rider Mikey O'Connor at Kildorrery last month, although he will be free to ride Churchstonewarrior at the Cheltenham Festival.

Riding Dromleigh in an older horses' maiden, O'Connor led the Hannon-ridden Dontrushslowtouch over the final fence before winning by 12 lengths. After pulling up, in a incident that was caught on camera, Hannon could be seen confronting O'Connor and grabbing him, and the matter was referred to the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board. 

Hannon, who shared last season's southern title with Barry O'Neill, told an IHRB referrals panel on February 28 he felt O'Connor should have made more effort to keep his mount straight and got carried away by the emotion of the situation, while O'Connor, who said they had been friends for years, countered that he couldn't understand what had happened because he felt he was clear jumping the last.

Hannon accepted it was a regrettable episode and, under the rule that covers bringing racing into disrepute, the panel handed him a 21-day ban. However, he will be free to ride Churchstonewarrior in the National Hunt Chase as there are no point-to-points or hunter chases in Ireland that day. The ban, which begins on March 11, incorporates all point-to-point dates up to and including May 14.

At a separate referral, the Harry Rogers-trained Final Endeavour was disqualified from his win at the Curragh on October 8 after testing positive for O-desmethylvenlafaxine, a substance that is prohibited on raceday. Rogers was fined €1,000 by the referral committee after it was decided that cross-contamination had occurred through human interaction.

In her evidence, Dr Lynn Hillyer, the IHRB's head of anti-doping and chief veterinary officer, noted that venlafaxine, a common antidepressant medication, metabolises to O-desmethylvenlafaxine and that cross-contamination could not be ruled out despite no probable source being provided by the trainer.

Rogers explained to the panel that a member of staff had handled and transported the horse on the day in question and raised the possibility that cross-contamination could have occurred. The committee noted that “they were satisfied that the substance passed from human to horse” but imposed the fine because it could not establish if reasonable precautions had been taken by the trainer to avoid the breach. 

Point-to-point handler Caroline McCaldin's Faith Loving was also disqualified from his October win over Ferns Lock at Portrush after testing positive for triamcinolone acetonide (TCA), which is prohibited on raceday. TCA is a commonly used corticosteroid anti-inflammatory medication with a recommended 14-day stand down period. McCaldin's medical records showed it had been administered to Faith Loving on September 12, which should have been adequate time to clear the horse's system before the race on October 15, but Hillyer advised that the positive test was likely due to the pathology of the joint which had been injected on more than one occasion.

The committee found the breach was without malice but noted McCaldin ought to have taken reasonable precautions to avoid it and fined her €1,000.

Ellemarie Holden: fined €3,000 for not keeping her medicines register up to dateCredit: Patrick McCann

Trainer Ellmarie Holden has been fined €3,000 after an out-of-competition inspection in February of last year resulted in three horses, Killahy, Winchmore Hill and Feronily, testing positive for clenbuterol, which is prohibited unless prescribed by a veterinary surgeon, after hair samples had been analysed. 

Hillyer outlined that there was no explanation for those results in Holden's medical records. However, copies of prescriptions were subsequently provided by Holden's vet to show the horses had been treated with the respiratory drug Ventipulmin and the trainer was fined for failing to keep her medicines register complete.

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