Suspended trainer Tony Martin has apologised for any damage caused to racing's reputation by his presence at Newcastle last Saturday where a horse he formerly trained, Alphonse Le Grande, won the Northumberland Vase.

Martin is currently suspended for three months from holding a licence after one of his horses, Firstman, tested positive for lidocaine when a sample was taken after winning at Dundalk on January 18th, 2023.

Lidocaine is a local anaesthetic banned for use on horses in competition given the clear welfare issues that would surround its use on raceday.

The multiple Cheltenham Festival winning Meath handler initially received a suspended six-month suspension and was fined €9,500 but the IHRB appealed that decision, believing the punishment to be too lenient.

As a result, the suspension of the sentence was halved, meaning that Martin would have to be sidelined for three months.

He then applied to the High Court for a judicial review but when that was rejected in May by Mr Justice Rory Mulcahy, the suspension began.

Martin’s sister, Cathy O’Leary’s name is now on the licence but was prominent at Newcastle, congratulating winning jockey Hollie Doyle and appearing in photographs at the winner’s enclosure.

That sparked fevered commentary surrounding the effectiveness and credibility of the suspension, even though it is not thought that Martin broke any rules by being there.

On Monday the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board said that it will be “examining the conduct” of Martin at Newcastle. The regulatory body of Irish racing is also in communication with its British counterpart, the British Horseracing Authority, given that the race and events surrounding it took place in their jurisdiction.

On Tuesday morning Martin issued a statement as follows: "I went to Newcastle with the owners of the horse by way of showing some support as they had been good enough to give the horse to Cathy while I served my suspension. In the aftermath of the horse winning I didn’t distance myself from the celebrations which I should have done. I regret my actions and apologise for them and it was not my intention to flaunt my suspension so for any offence caused I offer my heartfelt apologies. I did speak to Hollie Doyle by phone on Saturday as she had previous experience of the horse and the horse had been under my care for some time so I felt any help I could lend would help the horse’s chances. I greatly regret how the whole situation unfolded and I offer my sincere apologies to everyone."

Asked whether Martin had broken the rules of racing surrounding his suspension, whether he might have brought racing into disrepute and whether the rules surrounding suspensions of trainers needed to be imposed better or strengthened, the IHRB said that it was up to the BHA to make a ruling on its jurisdiction but that they were looking into it in terms of the rules of Irish racing.

The full IHRB statement said: "An IHRB Appeals Body directed that Mr A.J. Martin’s trainer’s licence be withdrawn for a period of three months to commence on 15 May 2024. Following an unsuccessful application by Mr Martin to seek a Judicial Review, the commencement date was moved to 16 May 2024. For the duration of the withdrawal of Mr Martin’s licence, he is not permitted to make entries or act in the capacity of a trainer.

“The IHRB is liaising with the BHA in relation to Mr Martin’s conduct at a fixture regulated by them on Saturday. It is for the BHA to establish whether there has been a rule breach in their jurisdiction, while the IHRB will be examining the conduct in the context of the Irish Rules of Racing.”