‘Frustrated’ Shark Hanlon fined after heated argument with IHRB official at Listowel
Trainer John ‘Shark’ Hanlon was in hot water with the Listowel stewards on Monday following an altercation with a member of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB).The Carlow-based handler was fined €250 by stewards at the North Kerry racecourse after he was found to be in breach of Rule 272 (iii)(verbal abuse towards an Official).Shark is reported to have had a heated and public argument with the clerk of the course Paul Moloney in the weigh room over watering of the track.Hanlon has been a vocal critic of some Irish racecourse’s policy of watering their surfaces during dry spells as most of the horses he trains like a sound surface.When contacted by the Irish Mirror, Shark said: “I was frustrated with the ground at Listowel. Sunday night there was 11mm of rain forecast and they went and watered the ground after racing yesterday (Sunday) evening.“The ground yesterday (Sunday) was good, good-to-yielding in places.“We are in the summer and I honestly think we should be getting summer ground for our horses instead of overwatering some of the tracks in Ireland.“I went into the weigh room to speak to the clerk of the course and was told that they didn’t water the track, and then said they stated that they watered two furlongs up the straight.“I know for a fact that the back straight was watered as a friend of mine was staying in a hotel nearby, and saw them doing it last night, plus some of my racing companions were there last night and saw them watering the track.”Overnight rain at Listowel softened the going description and there were a number of withdrawals before racing due to the going.Hanlon had two runners on Monday in the opening two races, with both Pure Logic and Mo Ghille Mar finishing well beaten.He had separately been fined €65 for failing to fit declared cheekpieces to Pure Logic prior to entering the parade ring for the opening race.He added: “I feel we are in the summer months, and with summer horses we are entitled to get summer ground. We entered on good to firm ground five days ago, and didn’t get an awful lot of rain, yet the ground was soft today.“Some of the tracks in Ireland are very good, and do a great job on the ground, but some others just over water.”A statement from the IHRB said: Following a report from an IHRB Racing Official, the Raceday Stewards interviewed trainer, Mr John Joseph Hanlon in relation to his conduct during an interaction with the IHRB Clerk of the Course Mr P. Moloney.“Evidence was heard from Mr P. Moloney and Mr John Joseph Hanlon. Mr John Joseph Hanlon said he became irate over the ground conditions, he accepted that he had been abusive towards Mr P. Moloney and apologised for his actions.“Having considered the matter, the Raceday Stewards were satisfied that Mr John Joseph Hanlon was in breach of Rule 272 (iii)(verbal abuse towards an Official) and having considered his clean record in this regard they fined him €250 on this occasion.”Click here to sign up to our racing newsletter for the latest news and tips from the biggest meets.
