The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) has confirmed that its head of security and investigations, Chris Gordon, has left the organisation. Both Mr Gordon and his deputy, Declan Buckley, finished working at the IHRB last Sunday.
It appears to leave a hole in the regulator’s investigative capacity, although an IHRB spokesman insisted the body retains a capacity for examination of potential wrongdoing in the sport.
It is unclear if both men will be replaced. Both Mr Gordon and Mr Buckley declined to comment on the matter on Friday.
Asked if they didn’t work for the IHRB any more, the regulator’s head of communications, Niall Cronin, said: “We can confirm that Chris Gordon and Declan Buckley both finished in their roles with the IHRB on December 14th. We would like to thank Chris and Declan for their contribution to the organisation during their time here.”
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Asked where that leaves the organisation’s investigative capacity, he added: “Investigations are carried out through our racing, regulation and integrity department and that will continue to be the case.”
Solicitor Christine Traynor was appointed head of that department last year.
Paul Murtagh, head of the IHRB’s race-day operations, conducted a lengthy interview with jockey Philip Byrnes on the back of his controversial unseating from Redwood Queen at Wexford in May. A referrals’ hearing into the matter took place on Monday, with a verdict not expected until the new year.
Mr Gordon joined the regulatory body, then known as the Turf Club, in 2010. A former Garda superintendent, he became embroiled in a high-profile dispute with the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association after conducting joint inspections of stable yards with Department of Agriculture officials as part of the sport’s anti-doping policy.
He brought a defamation action against the IRTA in 2016 after the trainers’ body falsely accused him of concocting evidence during an inspection of a yard owned by trainer Liz Doyle, daughter of former Fine Gael MEP Avril Doyle.
He was awarded €300,000 following a 30-day trial in the High Court that ended in March 2020. A jury found he had been the subject of an “orchestrated and severe campaign” against his good name by the IRTA. Legal costs in the case are believed to be more than €2 million.
An appeal by the IRTA against the verdict was unsuccessful in December of 2022.
In that Court of Appeal judgment, Mr Justice Brian Murray concluded that the “campaign of defamation” came from “a powerful and extremely influential group within the horse racing industry” in an attempt to prevent Mr Gordon from investigating its members.
It added that Mr Gordon was boycotted by trainers and that his removal from the role of head of security with the sport’s regulator was pursued through Horse Racing Ireland, the semistate body in charge of racing in this country.
