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The Appeals Body, Mr Martin P O’Donnell (Chair), Mr Victor Connolly and Mr John McGuire convened at the Offices of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board on Thursday, 6 November 2025 to consider the appeal of Tom McGuinness (Trainer), against the decision of the Raceday Stewards at Dundalk on 17 October 2025 following the running of the Celebrate Your Special Occasion Handicap.
On the day, the Raceday Stewards enquired into the conduct of Hastily (GB), ridden by J Cleary, who was unruly at the start and kicked out at another jockey. Having considered the evidence, the Raceday Stewards suspended Hastily from running for 60 days in accordance with Rule 14(iii) as a result of its behaviour.
The grounds of the appeal lodged by Mr McGuinness was against the severity of the sanction.
Evidence was heard from Mr McGuinness. The Appeals Body also watched a recording of the race.
In his evidence, Mr McGuinness accepted a breach of the Rules had occurred however he explained that the mare is not dangerous and her behaviour can be manageable. Mr McGuinness outlined that his instructions on the day to Mr Cleary were to arrive as late as possible to the start and to keep Hastily away from the other horses. Mr McGuinness explained that he trains a small number of horses and takes a break from training between Christmas and March so the impact of the 60 day ban imposed by the Raceday Stewards is that Hastily will not run again until mid 2026. Mr McGuinness said that Hastily is a very quiet horse at home and generally at the races but from leaving the parade ring to going into the starting stalls she has developed a tendency to kick out. Mr McGuinness gave an undertaking to attend the start of future races to assist in isolating Hastily and preventing any future kicking incidents.
Having considered the evidence, the Appeals Body upheld the decision of the Raceday Stewards to suspend Hastily from running for 60 days in accordance with Rule 14(iii).
The appeal was presented by Mr McGuinness. The IHRB was represented by Mr Leighton Aspell, IHRB Stipendiary Steward and Ms Christine Traynor BL, IHRB Head of Racing Regulation and Integrity.