Were the racing authorities right to ban trainer John ‘Shark’ Hanlon for 10 months or was he harshly treated?

In case you missed it, Hanlon was punished for transporting a dead racehorse, uncovered, on a trailer through parts of Co Kilkenny on an afternoon in June.

The horse had died of natural causes in a field and Hanlon was taking it to the local knackery. He admits he was rushing to get there before it closed for the weekend and unfortunately he didn’t properly fasten the tarpaulin covering the carcass and it blew off shortly after he began the journey.

A bemused motorist recorded the incident on his mobile phone in the village of Paulstown and posted it on social media.

It has to be mentioned that this happened just a few days after RTÉ broadcast its hard-hitting report on equine welfare issues, a programme in which Hanlon was named, though only in passing.

Nevertheless, it was a sensitive time and this was cited in the judgement against Hanlon. Justice Tony Hunt, who chaired the Referrals Committee which considered the matter, said that Hanlon had been “grossly negligent” and damaged the good name of Irish racing.

A ban was merited, he said, as suspensions had been given in similar cases, such as the time in 2021 when Gordon Elliott was photographed sitting on a dead horse while taking a phone call.

The final half of the 10-month ban could be suspended, the committee said, if Hanlon complied fully with the terms of the punishment for the first five months by removing himself completely from the day-to-day training of horses at his yard, and did not enter any restricted areas at the racecourse.

The trainer, who is based in Bagenalstown, Co Carlow, says he will appeal the penalty and it will probably be a month or two before that case is heard.

Some will tell you he has a heart of gold, always willing to help others and contribute to a good cause. Others cringe at his rustic, rough-and-ready personality

Hanlon has been training under a full licence since 2007. He has forged a reputation for winning good races with inexpensive or homebred horses, such as Luska Lad and Hidden Cyclone.

In 2019, he bought Skyace out of the Willie Mullins yard for €600. The mare went on to win five races for Hanlon, including the Grade 1 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares’ Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse during the 2021 Easter Festival.

His current stable star is Hewick, bought for €850 as a store. Now a nine-year-old, Hewick has won 10 races and almost €1 million in prize money.

His big race wins include the King George VI Chase at Kempton, the Oaksey Chase at Sandown, the American Grand National at Far Hills, the Galway Plate and the Sandown Gold Cup.

Without doubt, Hanlon is one of the most popular characters with the racing public but, within racing circles, opinion is divided.

Some will tell you he has a heart of gold, always willing to help others and contribute to a good cause. Others cringe at his rustic, rough-and-ready personality, feel that he courts publicity, and worry that his business model of training a lot of cheap horses in the hope of finding the odd good one is unsustainable.

In the past eight years, Hanlon has had a couple of disqualified winners over prohibited substances but so have plenty of bigger names.

For the record, he has never been charged with any equine welfare breaches, so it seems that this ban is too severe for the offence.