Trio entitled to share of racehorse, rules court

Three people are entitled to a 20% share of a racehorse which was sold for £315,000 (€430,000) more than two years ago, the High Court has ruled.

Builder Joseph Logan and his wife Edel, from Kilmeague in Kildare, must pay 20% of the sale price for a horse called Tashzara to satellite TV installer and part-time horse trainer Michael O’Reilly, of Ruanbeg Drive, Kildare town, and to his jockey brother Martin and his partner Claudia Reiss.

The O’Reilly/Reisses claimed they reached an agreement with Mr Logan that they would train and look after the filly to see if she could be raced and between the three of them they would get 20% of any sale proceeds.

The Logans claimed the agreement they reached was the industry standard whereby the trainer gets 10% from the sale proceeds.

Mr Justice David Keane yesterday said while he did not doubt the sincerity of witnesses on either side, he found, on the balance of probabilities, in favour of a January/February 2009 agreement that the O’Reilly/ Reiss side would get a 20% share of the horse in return for looking after the animal.

He found the agreement was also amended whereby the O’Reilly/Reiss side agreed they would be entitled to the 20% share in the sale price rather than being entitled to an interest in its prize money or progeny.

The court heard the horse was bought by Mr Logan in 2008. In 2009, Michael O’Reilly asked Mr Logan if he and his brother could take the horse in and train her.

The O’Reillys and Ms Reiss said when they first saw the horse in the Logans’ property, she was in a very poor condition. It turned out the filly shared a dam with the champion colt Excelebration which was considered one of the best horses in the world in 2011 and 2012.

Mr Logan, who said his plan at the time was to use Tashzara for breeding, agreed to give the animal to Mr O’Reilly for a three- month trial period.

Michael O’Reilly said there was a “gentlemen’s agreement” between them in Mr Logan’s yard that he (Michael) would get 10% of any sale while his brother Martin and his partner Claudia would get 5% each.

Mr Logan, who said the agreement was a 10% standard trainer’s fee, paid Michael to house, train and feed the animal.

She first went to race in Beverly, Yorkshire, where she came third. Next, she went to Navan Racecourse in Meath where she came second.

She was sent to the US where she won $40,000 (36,000) in prize money but ultimately ended up injured.

She was returned to Mr Logan two years later but only after Mr Logan had paid another $30,000 to the US trainer who he said, had already got the prize money to pay for all expenses associated with the horse while she was in the US.

Mr Logan said he was in financial difficulties because of the building industry decline, and had got family help to bring the horse back, transferred the animal’s ownership to his wife.

The horse was sent to Coolmore Stud to be put in foal and was sold in December 2012 at Tattersalls for £315,000.