TRAINER David Dunne has lost his appeal against penalties imposed on him by the Referrals Committee for conspiring with trainer Ronan McNally to deceive punters and racing officials.

In January Dunne was banned for two years (18 months suspended), fined €5,000 and lost over €25,000 in prize money won by his runners All Class, Full Noise and Petrol Head. It was found that Dunne had conspired with McNally to conceal the real ownership of those horses and that Dunne had given misleading or false information to the stewards.

Dunne had appealed the severity of the penalties, claiming that the six-month ban “could end my career”.

He also believed the prize money won by the horses trained by him should not be taken away as “the horses ran on their merits and therefore any prize money won was won legitimately.”

Hearing

During an oral hearing of the appeal on April 19th, Dunne named a third party who, he said, had broken the same rules of racing but had not been investigated or charged.

Responding, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board said the sole issue was whether the sanction imposed was reasonable and not whether someone else should have been charged.

The IHRB also contended that Dunne did not win the races in question legitimately as he had breached the rules of racing by concealing the true ownership of the horses and had misled the stewards.

The Appeals Committee, which consisted of Mr Justice Peter Kelly, John Murphy and Anthony Byrne, found that the penalties imposed by the Referrals Committee were reasonable and proportionate, and so the appeal was dismissed.

Costs

They ordered that Dunne should pay the legal costs of the appeal but, taking his personal circumstances into account, they limited this to €2,000 and allowed Dunne 18 months to pay.

Dunne, who is based in Garristown, Co Meath, is allowed to work in racing during his suspension, unlike McNally who is facing a record 12-year ban from training. His appeal is due to be heard on May 29th.