Shark Hanlon’s training licence has been reinstated after the final three and a half months of his ban were suspended, following a hearing by the IHRB Referrals Committee on Wednesday afternoon.

Hanlon began a six month ban on December 1st, having successfully appealed the length of the original 10-month suspension imposed by the IHRB. At the time, the Referrals Committee stated that Hanlon could apply to suspend the latter half if he abided by conditions imposed by the first half.

The punishment related to an incident in June where Hanlon’s branded horsebox was seen pulling a trailer with a fully visible horse carcass on public roads. The incident was filmed by a member of the public and was widely shared on social media.

Since the ban, Hanlon’s horses have been trained by Tara Lee Cogan out of his Co Carlow yard. The suspension of the ban’s final three and a half months means that Hanlon may have runners as soon as Saturday, March 1st.

His licence was reinstated on the condition that Hanlon does not commit any further breach of Rule 272 within the suspended timeframe, for the duration of the six months up to 1 June 2025, otherwise the suspended part could come into effect along with any other penalties that might arise.

Hanlon must also notify HRI of Horses in his care, control and training from February 14th with running after the March 1st. This is due to a rule stating that horses must be in a trainers’ care for 14 days before running.

Speaking on his Boylesports blog, Hanlon revealed: “I’ve been very busy! We had a new gallop installed, so that was a big thing for us. I lost my licence three months ago but we are back in business on March 1, so I am really looking forward to getting back home.

“Listen, we sold a lot of horses at Doncaster and now I have to go and try and replace them, and get new owners, which is not simple. The only good thing out of this is that pretty much the whole world was behind me so I am really hoping we have plenty of support when we come back.”

On his plans for stable star Hewick, Hanlon commented: “I think we will end up at Aintree for the Grand National. It depends on the ground if he runs at Cheltenham, we haven’t made our mind up yet, the big aim for this year and for the last six or seven months was the National so that’s where we will probably be going with Hewick.”