LUKE Comer Jr has had his training licence taken away for 12 months. The decision by the Referrals Committee was published on Friday and comes six weeks after his father and namesake lost his appeal against a three-year training ban.

The sanction was handed out following the discovery of equine remains at the unlicensed premises of Ginnets Estate in a forested area owned or held in the name of the Comer family. These remains included skulls, jaw bones and vertebrae, and indicated horses of various ages.

The inspection, which took place in March 2021 following a confidential disclosure about concerns relating to horse welfare, could not clearly determine the carcasses’ age and disposal method due to the possibility of buried identity chips.

While Comer accepted that remains were found on Ginnets Estate - and that he ultimately has responsibility for this - he denied “in the strongest possible terms” that he was responsible for bringing the remains of deceased horses there.

He maintained that he always ensures fallen animals are properly disposed of and “produced supporting evidence from Ward Union Hunt in that regard”, while pointing to the fact that no other issues were raised regarding the horses at any related sites that were inspected.

A prosecution was taken in relation to the decomposed carcasses, and this was brought to court earlier this year. Comer cooperated fully with the prosecution by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and, after a guilty plea was entered by the company to two charges, the court acknowledged a €20,000 donation to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA), and the charges were struck out.

IHRB case

The IHRB proceeded with its own referral for a breach of two rules of racing, namely Rule 272(i) and Rule 273(xiii), which require individuals involved in racing “to act in a manner that preserves the sport’s integrity and reputation”.

According to the written decision of the Referrals Committee, issued by Lady Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan: “The IHRB maintains that Mr Luke W Comer’s connection to the discovered deceased horses and the subsequent media coverage compounded by the court case, clearly violated the rule, causing significant harm to horseracing’s integrity and reputation.”

Comer said he was deeply remorseful that the event occurred as it “damaged himself, his family business and impacted on the interests of horseracing in Ireland, for which he has a great passion”.

In its decision, the Referrals Committee stated: “Clearly the discovery of horse carcasses in this way is unacceptable and offends good training practice and damages the integrity of racing. Mr Comer denies any direct involvement, that the failings are of some vintage and may have been contributed to by others working on the property at the time. In addition, the property at issue is large and the discovery was in a forested area. Nonetheless, as Mr Comer recognises himself, the licensed trainer ultimately bears responsibility.

“Overall, we find that there was significant carelessness by way of lack of attention regarding horse welfare on the property and proper disposal of carcasses. Out of what we were told was a cohort of some 70 horses or so on the subject premises, we find it hard to comprehend how Mr Comer would not notice if some were missing or what was happening generally.

’No malign intention’

“However, even on Mr Comer’s own case that there was no malign intention or direct involvement on his part, he is connected to the discovered deceased horses found on his land and offending behaviour still occurred by omission which breaches trainer’s obligations. This and what happened in the aftermath, clearly damages the good reputation of racing and undermines public confidence in horse welfare standards within the industry.”

The committee determined that a suspension of Comer’s restricted licence for one year was “the only proper outcome to reflect the seriousness of this charge”, and that had he not shown remorse and accepted the charge, the sanction would have been greater. His suspension will be effective from September 12th.

The committee was content not to impose a fine on the basis that Comer contributes €10,000 each year for two years to Treo Eile, an organisation dedicated to retraining and rehoming racehorses, as he had already volunteered.

Comer Snr recently lost his own appeal against a three-year suspension. The case was originally heard in 2023 following a long-running IHRB investigation, which began in October 2021 when the Comer-trained He Knows No Fear tested positive for anabolic steroids following his fourth in the Listed Trigo Stakes at Leopardstown.

A month later, the IHRB visited Comer’s yard and took hair samples from a number of horses, which resulted in 11 more positive results for the same prohibited substances.

Comer vigorously contested the findings and the referrals committee did not believe there was evidence of deliberate doping but, in the absence of a plausible explanation, had no option but to find Comer responsible for serious rule breaches and ordered that his licence be withdrawn.