Kieran Cotter fined by IHRB over rules transgressions

Trainer Kieran Cotter has been fined a total of €27,500 by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board for administering cobalt to Slade Runner the day before his win at Dundalk in January 2021 and failing to maintain a medicines register at his Portarlington training facility.

Slade Runner was disqualified after a urine sample analysis by LGC Laboratories in Newmarket revealed that the gelding produced a specimen containing cobalt at 119ng/ml, which exceeds the international threshold of 100ng/ml.

Cotter requested a B sample, which was analysed at LCH Laboratories France, with cobalt at 115ng/ml detected.

Cobalt is categorised as a prohibited substance by Irish racing authorities, and can't be used in the two days before a runner appears on the racecourse.

Cotter said that he subsequently administered 20ml of the Complete Copper Cobalt Solution supplied by Natural Nutrition LTD by mouth to the horse on each of the two days prior to the raceday.

In evidence, Cotter claimed that he had administered 20ml of Complete Copper Cobalt Solution supplied by Natural Nutrition LTD by mouth to the horse on each of the two days prior to the raceday to treat a copper deficiency.

A subsequent unannounced inspection of the trainer's yard on 3 February 2021 revealed that Cotter had failed to maintain a medical register for a number of years.

The inspection also highlighted issues with the disposal of animal remedies and syringes, some of which had been located at a bonfire site on the premises.

The referrals committee did not find Cotter in breach of the rules for a possession of illegal substances in his yard and did not find him in breach of Rule 273(xiii) but noted that the conduct was that of a serious nature.

They breakdown of the fine was