{"id":547427,"date":"2026-06-21T23:51:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T23:51:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/547427\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T23:51:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T23:51:33","slug":"unclear-whether-hri-and-ihrb-will-meet-maurice-regan-over-controversial-claims-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/547427\/","title":{"rendered":"Unclear whether HRI and IHRB will meet Maurice Regan over controversial claims \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Both Horse Racing Ireland<\/a> and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board have declined to say whether its officials will meet businessman Maurice Regan after he urged Irish racing\u2019s ruling bodies to investigate Coolmore Stud for allegedly bringing the sport into disrepute. <\/p>\n

Regan\u2019s Newtown Anner Stud has sent lengthy correspondence to both HRI and the IHRB in relation to a dispute with Coolmore and its boss, John Magnier<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In that correspondence, Regan, a New York-based property developer originally from Listowel in Co Kerry, also makes claims about starting procedures and stalls allocations that he suggests gives horses owned by Coolmore and trained by Aidan O\u2019Brien a competitive advantage.<\/p>\n

In communication from solicitors for Newtown Anner, the banner under which Regan\u2019s bloodstock interests operate, they ask the racing bodies here to meet their client to discuss the allegations. <\/p>\n

Last month Regan lodged a High Court action against Magnier and Coolmore alleging breaches of competition law in relation to Newton Anner using the stud\u2019s stallions. It also said it was barred from using an equine hospital in which Magnier has ownership interests. <\/p>\n

The move came on the back of a lengthy and high-profile dispute that last year saw Magnier fail in an action against the Barne Estate that tried to prevent the Thomson-Moore family from selling their property to Regan for \u20ac22.25 million. <\/p>\n

During the case, Magnier\u2019s lawyers described Regan as a \u201cdark force\u201d. It also emerged that Regan texted a third party in 2023 that he hoped a newspaper article about his offer for the estate would give Magnier \u201ca heart attack\u201d.<\/p>\n

Regan\u2019s disagreement with Magnier has now extended to racing\u2019s ruling bodies. His solicitors have requested that HRI examine his claims that Coolmore have blocked Newtown Anner from covering services and directed a veterinary hospital in Co Tipperary to withdraw its services to him. <\/p>\n

Communication sent to HRI and the IHRB, and seen by The Irish Times, also requests examination of starting procedures in flat races in this country, where it is widely perceived as preferable for a horse to be in the starting gate for as short a time as possible. <\/p>\n

It states that Regan is \u201cparticularly concerned about patterns observed in race-start procedures involving horses associated with Coolmore, especially gate selection, loading order and related starting stall variables\u201d. <\/p>\n

It also states that Regan reviewed racing footage throughout 2024 in respect of 109 rides at the Curragh and Leopardstown by Coolmore\u2019s number one jockey Ryan Moore. It says that in 23 of those 109 races the Coolmore runner was loaded last. It argues that the statistical probability of that pattern \u201coccurring at random\u201d is \u201cin the order of 216\/1\u201d and worthy of investigation by HRI.<\/p>\n

Regan also wants HRI to look at its gate-draw systems. They are carried out by a computer. He asks for \u201cconfirmation as to the gate-selecting system, its development and maintenance, the conduct and witnessing of draws, audit logging, the ability to rerun or amend draws\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, a HRI spokesman said: \u201cWe will be replying to Newtown Anner in due course.\u201d An IHRB spokesman commented: \u201cThe IHRB has received correspondence and will consider it in accordance with its established regulatory procedures. It would not be appropriate to comment on the correspondence or any aspect of the process while it is ongoing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regan, who has extensive property interests in Ireland, was at Limerick on Friday evening where his runner Zenford won a handicap. Interviewed afterwards by Racing TV, he was asked about his recent appearances in media headlines.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t put myself in the papers. I was just minding my own business,\u201d he said before adding: \u201cI stand up for myself. I can. I\u2019m independent in the horse world here. So, I can stand up for myself when I don\u2019t like what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph O\u2019Brien, who saddled five winners at Royal Ascot last week, is referenced in the Newtown Anner correspondence in relation to continuing to train for Regan. <\/p>\n

It states that in December, O\u2019Brien contacted Newtown Anner\u2019s consultant and that he had \u201cbeen directed by Mr Michael Vincent Magnier to stop supplying training services to our client. Mr O\u2019Brien ultimately agreed to continue training the seven horses then in his care but indicated that he was unable to accept additional horses from our client.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Coolmore spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.<\/p>\n

In separate racing news, O\u2019Brien will aim to extend his red-hot run of form to next Sunday\u2019s Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, where he plans to run the Epsom third, James J Braddock. The trainer also indicated the Epsom Oaks winner Thundering On could line up in Saturday\u2019s Paddy Power Pretty Polly Stakes. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think he [James J Braddock] has come on very well from Epsom. He obviously didn\u2019t behave brilliantly on the day but at least he ran very well. I think the occasion and the race has brought him forward. He\u2019s an exciting runner,\u201d said O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n

Twice an Irish Derby winning jockey, O\u2019Brien won the race as a trainer with Latrobe in 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Both Horse Racing Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board have declined to say whether its officials will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[234736,9,10,73088,18,13,14,6,19,17,46276,11,12,15,16,5,170055,7,8],"class_list":["post-547427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-aidan-o-brien","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-coolmore","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-john-magnier","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-ryan-moore","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116790788278854844","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}