O’Brien must wait on penalty
The Ballydoyle trainer was initially charged with “acting in a manner prejudicial to the conduct and/or good reputation of racing” after instructing his employee, Pat Keating, not to trot up the horse in front of the British Horseracing Authority’s veterinary officer and the senior racecourse veterinary surgeon as part of their examination of the colt after his Dante success.
That charge was later amended, and O’Brien admitted to “acting in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of horseracing in Great Britain” at a disciplinary panel hearing which concluded today, as well as two other charges of encouraging and/or causing Keating to refuse to comply with two instructions given by the York stewards.
Keating also admitted to being twice in breach of Rule (B)83 regarding his failure to comply with the instructions.
The BHA’s disciplinary panel heard representations on behalf of all three parties and will now consider the issue of penalties with an announcement anticipated next week.
At the time, O’Brien explained he had refused the request to submit the colt to a second veterinary inspection as he was worried Cape Blanco had suffered a recurrence of an injury.
