THE Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board [IHRB] has accepted mistakes were made in how the organisation handled the removal of Homer Scott’s training licence.

After more than 40 years as a trainer, Scott “surrendered” his licence last July on foot on inspections of his premises by officials from the IHRB and the Department of Agriculture.

Although Scott reportedly had no horses in training at the time, he had breeding stock and had been reported to the IHRB by one of his staff members for mistreating broodmares at his Lisheen Stud in Castledermot, Co Kildare.

Department officials visited and interviewed Scott twice last spring and served him with an Animal Health and Welfare Notice in June. A month later the IHRB paid Scott an unannounced visit which subsequently led to him handing in his trainer’s licence.

None of these details were in the public domain until last weekend when the story was featured in the Sunday Independent.

The IHRB has since come under fire for not bringing the matter before the Referrals Committee and publishing the findings.

Yesterday, IHRB chief executive Darragh O’Loughlin told The Irish Field: “Having reviewed the file on this case, I believe that immediately taking back the trainer’s licence was the right thing to have done in the circumstances.

“However, I accept the criticism about transparency. We should have published a notice at the time stating that the licence had been relinquished on foot of adverse inspection findings at the licensed premises. We have to learn from this.”

O’Loughlin took office on June 29th last year, just a day before the IHRB’s senior veterinary officer Dr Lynn Hillyer led an inspection of Scott’s premises which led to the recovery of the trainer’s licence.

Earlier this week the IHRB issued a statement defending their actions. It read: “Enforcement of the Animal Health and Welfare Notice served on Mr Scott by the Department of Agriculture, and any actions to be taken under the Animal Health and Welfare Act, are a matter for the Department and not the IHRB. The IHRB will continue to assist the Department as and when required.

“The IHRB deals with every case on the basis of the circumstances, facts and evidence in that case. In this case, there were particular circumstances that warranted a specific approach.

“One of the most severe sanctions that can be imposed on any trainer by the IHRB is removal of their licence. In this case, the IHRB believed that swift removal of the trainer’s licence would be appropriate and was satisfied to secure the surrender of Mr Scott’s licence.”