Court of Appeal hears IRTA case

THE appeal by the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association against a High Court decision in favour of racing official Chris Gordon was heard this week by the Court of Appeal.

Three judges heard the case over three days and said they would issue their judgement “as soon as possible”.

In March 2020, after a seven-week hearing, the High Court found that the IRTA had defamed Gordon by effectively running a campaign to have him removed from his position as head of security with the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board. Gordon was awarded €300,000 in damages and the legal costs for the IRTA are thought to have comfortably exceeded €1 million.