Trainer's relief at keeping licence as panel fines him for failure to call vet

Mark Gillard has expressed relief at keeping his licence after a four-day disciplinary hearing which ended on Tuesday with an independent panel deciding a fine was the right punishment for his breaches of the welfare rules.

The Dorset trainer must pay £3,333.33, having opted to treat No No Tonic himself rather than immediately summoning a vet in the days following her injury at Wincanton last year.

The panel heard that clear instructions from a racecourse vet were communicated to Gillard, insisting a vet should be called to examine the mare the next day. She had sustained an eight-inch gash to her skin and muscle in the area of her stifle joint, a wound caused when she panicked and broke out of her horsebox after racing.

Gillard insisted he had not breached rule D1, which insists on trainers taking "all reasonable steps to ensure the safety and welfare of every horse in their care at all times" but the panel ruled he had done so, for reasons it will publish in due course.

However, it did not agree with a BHA submission that his actions amounted to "neglect over a period of time", which would have led to a nine-month suspension of his licence. Instead, the panel found his actions were merely "below the acceptable standard" and could be punished with a fine.

"I was staggered that the BHA would try and bring a case of neglect against us," Gillard said. "The horse had five-star treatment from day one and intensive care all the way through. The legal team have been absolutely fantastic but it's cost £45,000 to get to this stage."

Mark Gillard: 'We're right behind welfare in racing, 100 per cent'Credit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

The BHA's case centred on Gillard's delays in calling a vet to his yard and in sending No No Tonic to be treated at a specialist hospital, which happened after three weeks had passed. The ruling body claimed that a much worse outcome had only been avoided by "luck" and its barrister, Charlotte Davison, urged that Gillard's evidence be treated with caution after she highlighted what she argued were a number of discrepancies.

In particular, she pointed to Gillard's assertion during the four-day hearing that he owned a majority share in the horse, a claim he later withdrew. She described it as a "bizarre" intervention, intended to undermine the BHA case, deflect blame from himself "and show that he knows much better than others".

While the BHA will be satisfied that it proved a breach of D1, the panel did not accept its assertion that Gillard's actions amounted to neglect. The trainer benefited from a passionate defence by Roderick Moore, who said: "Given the intensity of ongoing care, a finding of neglect would be nothing short of perverse. The word just doesn't fit."

With regard to Gillard's decision to treat No No Tonic rather than call out a vet, Moore said: "There is no evidence that anyone would have done anything materially different to what was done."

No No Tonic made a full recovery in time to race nine months later and then achieved her first success in the spring. Gillard says she is back in training and close to a run.

"It's all to do with the brilliant team we have here, who brought her back to full fitness," the trainer said. "I can't thank them enough and I've been out to tell them just now: we haven't lost our licence, you've all got jobs and you can pay the mortgage.

"We're right behind welfare in racing, 100 per cent. This looked like a test case for the BHA to see how their welfare department worked and maybe we all need to learn lessons."

Read this next:

Sean Levey cleared to resume riding after second test proves negative

The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday