THE Association of Irish Racehorse Owners [AIRO] has had a tough week, finding itself admonished by the Minister for Agriculture on Tuesday and then settling an expensive High Court case yesterday.

Both developments centre around the process by which the AIRO nominates a person to represent owners on the board of Horse Racing Ireland. Jim Gough (above) currently holds that position but his tenure is about to expire and the AIRO wants to replace him.

Gough expected to contest an election but found that the rules had been changed and he needed a ‘seconder’ from the 12-member council before his name could be added to the ballot paper. Unable to secure the required support, Gough took out an injunction to prevent the AIRO from electing sole candidate Caren Walsh.

The AIRO agreed to let the Minister decide and his verdict, delivered this week, was that a proper process required two or more candidates to be put before the general membership. “Where only one candidate is selected … it is difficult to avoid the factual conclusion that it was the Governing Council who effectively chose the individual for appointment … and this is fundamentally at variance with the requirements”, the Minister wrote.

Yesterday both Gough and the AIRO were back in the High Court for a ruling on costs, thought to be somewhere between €50,000 and €100,000. The case was settled with a confidentiality clause and neither side wished to comment. However, given the Minister’s ruling, it is reasonable to conclude that the AIRO will be significantly out of pocket. The full cost is unlikely to be revealed until the association’s end-of-year accounts are published.

If the court settlement favoured Gough, it was a pyrrhic victory in one sense as he is highly unlikely to retain his HRI board seat. The AIRO council remains free to put up a second candidate of its own choosing against Caren Walsh and unlikely that Gough will be that person.

The odds are far shorter on the Gough-owned Hathiq who runs in the Dash at Epsom today. Trained by Denis Hogan, the £3,000 purchase won at the Curragh last weekend and is strongly fancied to go well in today’s £100,000 race.