IHRB initiates High Court proceedings against suspended trainer Luke Comer to secure €840,000 in fines and costs

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The Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board (IHRB) has initiated High Court proceedings to secure over €840,000 in fines and costs from billionaire businessman and trainer Luke Comer, who is suspended for three years after his horses tested positive for anabolic steroids.

Details of the case were heard in front of an IHRB referrals committee in May 2023 and it was revealed that September that 12 horses in Comer's care were found to have traces of methandienone (MD) and methyltestosterone (MT) in what was one of the biggest doping scandals in the history of the sport.

Comer, whose property development firm Comer Group International sponsor the Irish St Leger, repeatedly denied that he or any of his staff were involved in doping the horses and argued at the initial hearing that the adverse findings were due to environmental contamination. He also admitted he only spent about three months of the year in Ireland due to being based in Monaco.

According to the report from the IHRB at the time, Comer spent an "enormous sum of money" trying to establish how his horses came to test positive for anabolic steroids, but the committee was still unable to say how it happened.

It said the burden of proof rested on the trainer, who was unable to determine how the horses came to test positive and did not take reasonable precautions to avoid a breach.

He had his appeal against the decision to suspend his licence and pay €840,754 in fines and costs dismissed in June 2024.

The regulator appealed against the decision on the grounds of undue leniency. Comer also appealed against the findings and penalties for multiple breaches of the rules on adverse analytical findings, bringing the sport into disrepute and supplying misleading information.

An IHRB appeals body upheld the referral committee's decision and directed Comer to pay 75 per cent of the costs of the appeal to the IHRB.

With Comer resident in Monaco, the IHRB has now made an application to serve proceedings abroad to enforce the financial penalties.

An IHRB spokesperson said: "The proceedings referenced relate to the enforcement of fines and a costs order previously awarded in favour of the IHRB further to a disciplinary matter.

"As the individual concerned is resident outside the jurisdiction, an application has been made to the High Court seeking permission to serve proceedings abroad. This is a procedural requirement and does not reopen or revisit the substantive disciplinary matter. The IHRB does not intend to comment further on ongoing legal proceedings."

Read more:

Luke Comer's appeal against three-year ban after major doping scandal is dismissed 

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