RACEHORSE owner and industry professional Noel Hayes has issued a strongly worded statement criticising the way in which he has been treated by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board [IHRB] during its handling of the Yuften investigation.

Hayes was charged by the IHRB of being involved in the “conspiracy” to ensure Yuften did not run on his merits in a Dundalk claiming race in March 2020 but the case against him was dropped in September of this year when, according to Hayes, the IHRB was unable to offer any specific details of the offences he was alleged to have committed.

He says the allegations against him were “entirely unfounded and misplaced” and that he has suffered “considerable financial costs”.

The entire IHRB case effectively collapsed earlier this month when the regulator informed the Referrals Committee it would not be offering any evidence against any of the parties charged – trainer Denis Hogan, rider Joe Doyle and professional punter John O’Shea – following the receipt of new information from the defendants.

However, rather than withdrawing the charges and having the case struck out, the IHRB allowed the Referrals Committee to go through the motions of opening and closing the hearing last Thursday.

On Friday the IHRB published the Committee’s decision and, in doing so, the IHRB published the names of all four defendants, forever linking Hayes and the other defendants in the public domain with charges which were never backed up with any evidence.

Hayes believes he came under suspicion from the IHRB because he backed the winner of the Dundalk race and was an owner in the Denis Hogan yard. He says he co-operated with the IHRB investigation at all times, had nothing to hide and has run up significant legal bills in defending himself against charges which he says had no merit.

In a statement issued on Monday afternoon, Hayes said: “In March 2021 the IHRB engaged with me on this matter due to 1) me having placed a bet on Tony The Gent in the race in question, 2) I was known to other parties under investigation. These matters were never a point of dispute.

“At all times I was willing to co-operate and did, in fact, co-operate with this investigation in circumstances where I had done nothing wrong and had nothing to hide.

“In April of 2023, having heard nothing from IHRB for a very considerable period, I was absolutely shocked to receive notice that I was being charged with breaches of the rules of the IHRB and that the matter was being referred to a Referrals Committee for hearing.

“From this point, amongst other requests, my legal team sought details and clarification of the case being made against me, including what I was alleged to have done to give rise to these charges, which were totally unfounded and unsubstantiated. The response of the IHRB to these repeated requests was that all the information they were required to provide was contained in an investigation report as provided to me on April 3rd 2023.

“On August 24th 2023, at a pre-hearing Directions Meeting my legal team submitted to the Referral Committee that it was a matter of basic procedural fairness that the facts alleged against me be explicitly made known to me in order to allow my legal team to prepare my defence.

“My legal team further submitted that not to do so would be in breach of the rules of natural justice and Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights. The Referral Committee ruled in favour of these submissions and directed that the IHRB respond in full to me within 24 hours.

“At this point, the IHRB sought and were granted a deferral of the intended hearing before the Referrals Committee (due to commence on 29 August 2023) as they were not in a position to proceed and requested more time to deal with this request. This is despite the fact that the IHRB had a number of years to prepare their case. The IHRB were given a further eight days to respond in full to the submissions of my legal team.

“Some days later and, as justly anticipated by my legal representatives, we received notification from IHRB’s legal team that the IHRB were unable to particularise or produce evidence of any actions by me which would give rise to or warrant the charges and, on that basis, they were dropping all charges and allegations against me and that I was no longer subject to referral by the IHRB to hearing by a Referral Committee.

“This outcome was reached at great personal expense which totals far more than the very considerable financial costs I have borne.

“I am deeply disappointed by the manner in which I was treated, particularly in light of the fact that I co-operated with the investigation conducted by the IHRB.

“The allegations against me were entirely unfounded and misplaced. I was advised from the outset that the case against me was frivolous and vexatious and should never have been brought. This transpires to be absolutely correct.

“I thank my legal team of Ronan Kennedy SC and Hugh McDowell BL who were instructed by Donough Molloy of Sheehan & Partners.”