Eric and Conor McNamara acquitted of all wrongdoing over non-trier at Clonmel

Eric McNamara and his son Conor have won their appeal against the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, whose raceday stewards at Clonmel initially found Mount Ferns guilty under the non-trier rule. 

The stewards on the day took a dim view of Mount Ferns finishing sixth in a novice handicap chase and hit the trainer with a €6,000 fine, while jockey Conor was handed a 40-day ban, which would have ruled him out of the Cheltenham Festival. The horse was suspended for 90 days. 

The McNamaras immediately signalled their intention to appeal and they have won their case at IHRB headquarters. 

Eric McNamara said: "Thankfully, justice has been served. I would like to acknowledge that we were given a very fair hearing and I would like to thank the IHRB for giving us the opportunity to defend ourselves. 

"From the outset I told everyone that we were 100 per cent innocent. The horse was hanging and there was nothing Conor could do about it. He couldn't take his hands off the reins at all. He would have ended up in the field in the middle of the track if he did."

The Racing Post in-running comment described Mount Ferns as an eyecatcher, with the full passage reading: "Midfield, not fluent three out, tenderly handled but some headway before two out, kept on run-in, eyecatcher".

The IHRB informed the stewards that Mount Ferns was post-race normal, with samples taken for further analysis.

Having reviewed all the evidence and listened to Eric and Conor McNamara make their cases, the appeals body quashed all the penalties, which means Mount Ferns is now free to run. 

The seven-year-old gelding has won just one of his ten starts, a 2m handicap hurdle at Listowel last September. He is now with his third trainer, having been with Oliver Sherwood and then Emma Lavelle. He has had four starts for McNamara and is rated 100 over hurdles and fences.

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