Irish trainers' body loses appeal in defamation case that could run to millions

The Irish Racehorse Trainers Association’s appeal against a €300,000 High Court finding against it in a defamation case taken by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board’s head of security Chris Gordon has been unanimously dismissed by a court of appeal in Dublin.

Gordon won the sizeable damages in 2020 following a 30-day trial after it was established that he had been subjected to an “orchestrated and severe campaign” against his good name by the IRTA.

He was also awarded legal costs, which are estimated now to be in excess of €2 million cumulatively, after his legal team brought various strands of defamation to the court, including a contentious Irish Field interview with the former IRTA chairman Noel Meade that was published in August 2014.

At the time, the jury found unanimously that he had solid grounds for seeking to repair his good name after establishing malice on behalf of the IRTA, describing his reputation as impeccable.

In a lengthy and damning judgement given by Justice Brian Murray, the three-judge court of appeal unanimously upheld those findings against the IRTA .

Alarmingly, the 137-page document noted that the IRTA had "successfully petitioned Horse Racing Ireland to exert pressure on the Turf Club to restrict Mr Gordon in his duties and prevent him from investigating trainers".

Gordon was also found to have been defamed in a letter from the IRTA to a senior steward of the IHRB – then the Turf Club – about his role in a 2014 inspection of the Wexford yard of trainer Liz Doyle, which was the catalyst for the whole dispute.

It was established that it was falsely alleged that he attempted to entrap Doyle into an admission of wrongdoing, and the court of appeal stated in its findings on Thursday that the trial judge, Justice Bernard Barton, “delivered a charge to the jury on the issue of malice that was as clear as it was correct”.

It stated: “The grounds relied upon by the defendant in this appeal against the consequent findings and awards made by the jury are without foundation.”

Neither side was willing to comment in any meaningful way on the finding on Thursday, and the judgement could leave the IRTA in a perilous financial position.

It is registered as a company limited by guarantee (CLG) and is believed to have little in the way of tangible assets, renting an office on the site of the Racing Academy and Centre of Education (RACE). Its CLG status means its liability is limited to £5 – in old Irish punts – per member.

Justice Murray observed in his findings that the case had raised a number of legal questions, including “when a corporate body may be fixed with liability over statements made by one of its officers, when such a body will be liable for words spoken at a meeting arranged by it, and how a party can become liable for publications to, and letters issued by solicitor on its behalf”.

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