Irish Racehorse Trainers’ Association lose defamation case

Nice to know Irish trainers are in a position to spaff that sort of money up the wall.

Horse racing trainers’ body is €1m in red after losing 30-day defamation case in High Court
The IRTA was sued over false claims about Irish Horseracing Regulatory Authority official Chris Gordon

Michael Grassick spent a decade as IRTA chief executive. Photo: Lorraine O'Sullivan
Michael Grassick spent a decade as IRTA chief executive. Photo: Lorraine O'Sullivan

Maeve Sheehan

February 26 2023 02:30 AM

The former boss of the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association (IRTA) who was a protagonist in a costly defamation action that has left the organisation in financial peril was in line for a “retirement grant” on leaving the organisation last year.

The “CEO retirement grant” of €27,800 is listed in the latest financial statements for the association which also record liabilities of €1m.

Michael Grassick, a racehorse trainer, stood down last year after a decade as chief executive.

The disclosure of the “retirement grant” comes as the IRTA is facing legal costs that it is unable to pay and an “uncertain future” following Chris Gordon’s successful defamation action against the association.

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The IRTA said this weekend it is not in a position to comment at this time as the matter is ongoing.

Mr Gordon, head of the security at the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Authority, formerly the Turf Club, sued the trainers’ association for orchestrating a campaign to damage his good name.

His claims were upheld by a unanimous jury in the High Court in 2020, and then last December by the Court of Appeal.

He was awarded €300,000 plus legal costs.

The latest financial statements for IRTA, seen by the Sunday Independent, reveal the perilous state of the association’s finances and confirm that it doesn’t have money to pay the award.

Audited financial statements show IRTA’s income for the financial year to September 2022 was €253,880 — made up of subscriptions and prize money allocation.

The association ran up a deficit of €625,828 in that period, and its net liabilities were €1,052,039.

The auditors note that the trainers association “currently does not have the funds” to finance the awards determined by the High Court and upheld by the Court of Appeal. They note that this “material uncertainty” may cast “significant doubt” on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern, and to “discharge its liabilities”.

IRTA’s liability is limited to €5 to each member, which means they cannot be held liable for the award.

A detailed income statement, which is separate to the audited accounts, revealed IRTA spent €711,585 on legal and professional costs in the period to September 30 last year — more than twice its annual budget.

The statement also listed the €27,800 ‘CEO retirement grant’ to Mr Grassick in its expenditure for the period.

The costs of the 30-day hearing in the High Court and IRTA’s subsequent appeal are due to be heard in the High Court tomorrow.

Both sides employed leading legal teams led by former attorneys-general Michael McDowell SC, for Mr Gordon, and John Rogers SC, for IRTA.

IRTA, established in 1950, is funded through subscriptions and a percentage of prize winnings distributed through Horse Racing Ireland.

The prize money is part-funded by the taxpayer — more than €42m in public funds was paid out in prize money at horse races last year.

Mr Grassick stepped down after 10 years in the role of chief executive and said at the time this had always been his intention.

The 70-year-old and Noel Meade, the leading national hunt trainer who is also a former IRTA chairman, were key figures in Mr Gordon’s defamation action.

Mr Gordon, a former garda superintendent, led joint inspections with the Department of Agriculture of stable yards to deter doping.

He sued IRTA after it wrongly accused him of concocting evidence during an inspection of a stable yard owned by Liz Doyle, a daughter of former Fine Gael MEP Avril Doyle.

Mr Grassick and Mr Meade brought the allegation to IRTA’s solicitors, and “advanced” the claims, having “no honest belief” in the allegations, the courts found.

Mr Grassick was found to have passed on false complaint from a trainer about Mr Gordon to his employer.

Mr Meade was found to have defamed Mr Gordon in an interview with the Irish Field bloodstock and horseracing newspaper.

In a damning Court of Appeal judgment in December, Mr Justice Brian Murray noted that the “campaign of defamation” emanated from “a powerful and extremely influential group within the horse racing industry” who tried to prevent Mr Gordon from investigating their members.

He noted that Mr Gordon was boycotted by trainers, and his removal was pursued through Horse Racing Ireland — the sport’s governing body.

The IRTA’s financial statements were circulated at its annual meeting held in Kildare last week.

George I know you are interested in this type of stuff. There must be some legal method for him to get his £300,000 plus costs. Can he go after the associations members personally? How has he paid his own costs to date?

Horseracing industry critic is now dropped as steward
Brian Polly, former chair of horse owners’ group, is consulting lawyer over ‘dismissal’



Maeve Sheehan

March 12 2023 02:30 AM

A racehorse owner has claimed he was dismissed as a steward of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) after he raised questions about governance and funding of the sector.

Brian Polly, a former chairman of the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners, said he was informed in writing and without warning in January that his appointment as race-day steward was “revoked” with immediate effect.

Mr Polly said his dismissal from the voluntary role in racing coincided with his attempts to raise questions about the sector. He said he was now consulting his solicitor.

Mr Polly has circulated numerous emails to Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue that were critical of the horseracing sector and raised questions about the IHRB.

He did so during a period when the horseracing sector had come under scrutiny by the Public Accounts Committee in recent years, including the shareholdings in the redeveloped Curragh racecourse and the installation of cameras in racecourse stableyards.


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“I have always prided myself in being a person of the greatest integrity — my appointment as an IHRB steward hopefully reflected this,” Mr Polly said in a statement.

He said that “regrettably”, he and other members had concerns about the IHRB and he posed questions during his time as a steward. “I, on my behalf and on the behalf of smaller owners and trainers, posed many questions about the concerns we had,” he said.

He added that the questions were wide-ranging and “simply sought to bring some transparency” to the organisation.

He stood down as chairman of the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners following a dispute.

A High Court action he instigated against the association was discontinued last July, according to court records.

The voluntary positions are appointed by the IHRB to make sure the rules of racing are upheld on race days, “ensuring all horses are ridden on their merits, and penalising those found to be in breach of the rules”.

They are appointed or dismissed by a decision of the board of the IHRB. Race-day stewards include judges Mr Justice Raymond Groarke and Mr Justice Tony Hunt.

The IHRB said it does not comment on “current or former race-day stewards”.

The regulatory body said the race-day stewards were appointed by the board of the IHRB and must be approved by the majority of directors.

The directors may revoke the appointment “at any time”, the statement said.

Race-day stewards are not employees of the IHRB. “It is an entirely unremunerated position and confers no material benefits,” it added.

​The IHRB is a company limited by guarantee, formerly an amalgamation of the Turf Club and the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee, in 2018.

Its first set of accounts, published earlier this month, revealed the previous chief executive of the IHRB, Denis Egan, received a termination payment of €384,870 when he took early retirement in 2021.

The Comptroller and Auditor General noted Mr Egan had announced the early retirement and voluntary redundancy scheme in 2021. He applied for it a month later.

Mr Egan was paid €141,880 more than he was entitled to under the strict terms of the scheme, the Comptroller and Auditor General noted.

The IHRB said no public funds were used to fund the additional payment.