Trainer Charles Byrnes and his son Philip are due to face an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) referrals committee hearing in December into the controversial unseating from their runner Redwood Queen at Wexford in May.
The IHRB confirmed on Thursday that an investigation by the regulatory body into the circumstances around the incident, where Philip Byrnes was unshipped from the horse at the final flight of a claiming hurdle when looking to have the race won, has concluded.
Redwood Queen appeared to jump the obstacle well in an incident described by one TV pundit as a “soft unseat” and which prompted a huge amount of media comment. The odds-on favourite Beacon Edge took advantage of the unseat to win.
Charles Byrnes commented at the time: “It’s obvious what happened. He was trying to get the mare to go in and pop it, because obviously she had the race won, and she came up out of his hands and blew him out of the saddle. There’s no one hurting more than Philip about it.”
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On Thursday, an IHRB spokesman said: “Following an investigation into the Wexford Claiming Hurdle at Wexford racecourse on May 28, trainer Charles Byrnes and jockey Philip Byrnes are scheduled to appear before a Referrals Committee on Monday, December 15.”
Although there was significant comment on the day about Byrnes’s unseat, the racecourse stewards took no action. It was the following day that the IHRB said the matter would be reviewed by a senior racing official.
As part of their investigation the IHRB indicated it could engage with “external service providers or stakeholders as appropriate.”
Redwood Queen was weak in betting for the race at Wexford and started a 13-2 shot. She traded at cramped odds ‘in running’ before Byrnes was unseated. She was subsequently claimed out of the race for €6,000 by trainer Cian Collins.
During a long and successful career, Co Limerick based Charles Byrnes has been a controversial figure, most notably when handed a six-month suspension by the IHRB in 2021 over the infamous Viking Hoard incident at Tramore in 2018.
Byrnes was found to be “seriously negligent” when his runner, Viking Hoard, was found to have been “nobbled” with a sedative. The horse was found to be 100 times over the screening limit for the prohibited substance acepromazine or ACP.
An IHRB committee accepted interpretation of the evidence that the horse had been “nobbled” by an unidentified third party when left unaccompanied for periods at the racecourse stable-yard in Tramore.
Although not alleged to be involved directly in the administration of ACP, the committee did however point to Byrnes’s “neglect” in the horse being left unattended for a significant period at Tramore.
