'We acted professionally and appropriately' - IHRB defends actions in Mahon case

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board has told the Racing Post it acted "professionally and appropriately at all times" during its investigation of Stephen Mahon, which led to the trainer having his licence suspended for three and a half years on welfare grounds.

Part two of journalist Paul Kimmage's investigation into horseracing, which appeared over four pages in the Sunday Independent, detailed the circumstances which led to Mahon's yard being raided by the IHRB and the Department of Agriculture in April of 2021. His licence was subsequently suspended for four years, which was later reduced by six months on appeal.

One of the IHRB's sources in the case was an unidentified young woman, referred to as Anna Wilson in the article, who was working in Mahon's yard and providing the IHRB's chief veterinary officer Dr Lynn Hillyer with information on horses who she felt were in "pain and discomfort" in the Kilcolgan stable. There were several text exchanges between the pair.

The following month, Mahon's solicitor Patrick Ward received an email from the father of the woman referred to as Wilson after the referrals committee hearing had concluded, stating he would be pursuing legal action against the IHRB for its treatment of his daughter throughout the investigation.

In the email, he said the IHRB officials who spoke to Wilson knew that "she was not mentally well, and saw a decline in her mental strength over the course of their interaction with her".

When asked by the Racing Post whether the woman referred to as Wilson was taken advantage of by Hillyer, the IHRB replied: "We advised the Sunday Independent that based on the questions we received, we believed their information to be out of date, incomplete and inaccurate.

"The IHRB has acted professionally and appropriately at all times and some of the correspondence used is highly selective, outdated and incomplete."

The Racing Post also asked the IHRB whether it has confidence in Hillyer to continue in her current position, to which it replied "absolutely".

It was suggested in the article the father of the woman referred to as Wilson and owner Tom Doran would be pursuing legal action against the IHRB. When asked whether there is any ongoing legal action, the IHRB replied "no".

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