JAMES Gough has failed to secure a nomination which will allow him to contest the election of the next racehorse owners’ representative on the board of Horse Racing Ireland.

Gough is the current owners’ representative on the HRI board but he appears to have fallen out of favour with his fellow council members on the nominating body, the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners, none of whom will support his bid to be re-elected.

Previously AIRO members could propose and second fellow members to contest the election but the rules have been changed so that now all potential candidates must be put forward and seconded by council members.

Gough told The Irish Field yesterday: “I attended a council meeting on Tuesday and it was very uncomfortable. Nobody was prepared to second me. Monday is the cut-off for nominations but I have accepted that the situation won’t change.”

It’s thought that council member Caren Walsh and AIRO chairman Brian Polly will be the names put before the general membership at the upcoming election.

However, Gough does not intend to let the matter rest. He has already succeeded in getting the Minister for Agriculture involved, who ruled that the AIRO council could not simply put forward one candidate for a ‘walkover’.

Gough believes the AIRO council is still acting in an undemocratic fashion and he is talking to solicitors about seeking a judicial review of the Minister’s decree.

“I consider that there is a democratic deficit within the organisation. The only manner in which a member can become a member of the Council is through co-option. There is no real democracy within the organisation, yet it is the members’ subscription which pays the manager’s salary and funds the operational costs of AIRO.”