PROVSIONAL results of the postmortem carried out on Friday in Lyon, France, on Flogas Sunset Cruise, the horse at the centre of a social media outcry that he was allegedly whipped to death by Irish rider Kevin Thornton at a show in Cagnes-sur-Mer, have found no evidence of whip or spur marks.

However there was no clear conclusive cause of death such as a heart attack or a brain haemorrhage uncovered on Friday and so further tests, including blood and tissue analysis, are now under way. These may take some time to complete.

Dr Peter Cronau, a German veterinary expert attended the postmortem in Lyon on behalf of Kevin Thornton, as a witness to the postmortem.

No official results of the FEI investigation have yet been released but a statement, based on Dr Cronau's observations, was released today.

The statement from Kevin Thornton released to The Irish Field today (Monday) through Zurich-based attorney-at-law Dr Monika Gattiker read as follows:

"The first results of the autopsy of Flogas Sunset Cruise have been summarised by Dr. Peter Cronau, the witness veterinary who attended the autopsy on behalf of Kevin Thornton.

"According to Dr. Cronau, neither sweat nor sweating consequences (incrusted areas, change of skin surface etc.) were visible on the horse’s coat. He also stated that the existent skin was undamaged. This refers also to spur and whip marks.

"As to the cause of the death, there are no conclusive results yet.

"Pathologic-anatomic-wise neither an aortic rupture nor any rupture of other blood vessels nor heart lesions which could be related to the sudden death were found. Further investigations have to be carried out, including blood analysis.

"Based on these findings, the statements accusing Kevin Thornton of having worked (lunged and/or ridden) excessively cannot be maintained, as the horse did not show any signs of having sweated when it died. Further, any accusations that he had abused the horse with a whip and/or spurs also prove to be false.

"The first results of the autopsy fully support Kevin Thornton’s statement on the incident made on October 11th 2016, i.e. that he had ridden the horse for 15 to 20 minutes and definitely not worked too hard or even excessively, and that he had not abused the horse.

"The final results of the autopsy, which will hopefully provide conclusive results, will have to be awaited," concluded the statement.

The 10-year-old grey Ard VDL Douglas gelding was owned by Ballina's Vinnie Duffy of Duffy Sports Horses. An earlier statement released by Mr Duffy spoke of his and his family's devastation at the loss of the horse and also condemned the "social media assassination'' of Kevin Thornton before all the facts are known in the case.

BLOOD TESTS

Dr Monika Gattiker told The Irish Field on Monday afternoon: "There was no evidence of whip marks or sweat marks on the horse at the autopsy. This is very important for Kevin Thornton, alleged to have whipped this horse excessively and causing its death. This is not the case and this is proven to be the case with these results from Dr Cronau.

"We have no statement from the clinic yet. Dr Cronau reports that the first results of the postmortem are inconclusive. Five blood samples were taken and other tests. These could still reveal a heart attack or something sudden like that. However, there is right now as we speak no conclusive result to report.

"The coat of a horse stays sticky after sweating, every horse person knows this. Even if the sweat dries, you can still see it in the coat. That does not change. There is no evidence the horse was whipped. There is no whip marks or spur marks or sweat marks," said Dr Gattiker.

The Irish Field also learned that no autopsy was planned by the FEI until Kevin Thornton's legal representative insisted that one be held and that they have an independent witness there on their behalf to see it.

"Of course we would have loved conclusive results today. Let me say that no autopsy had been arranged by anyone by Wednesday evening. I tried from 8.30am all day on Wednesday myself to find out if the show or the FEI was holding an autopsy. I got an email back at 10.17pm that night from one of the show organisers saying it would be Thursday morning first thing. I objected to that straight away because it gave us no time to organise our witness to attend and I insisted on an independent autopsy being carried out.

"The autopsy was in Lyon on Friday at 9am and Dr Cronau attended for Kevin Thornton. His plane was a little delayed and he missed the start of it, but he was there for the rest of the day, right to the end, around 5.30pm. He was still in time to be able to see the skin and coat still on the horse and observe and witness everything from then," added Dr Gattiker.

Between Monday and Friday, the horse was stored at a cooled temperature (not frozen). It is not known whether the horse has been disposed of at this point.

When the full veterinary postmortem report is completed, the FEI will receive it but with the need for blood analysis etc now, this could mean a delay of days and possibly even weeks.