Gordon Elliott: Trainer apologises ‘profoundly’ after admitting picture of him sitting on a dead horse is real

Gordon Elliott is being investigated by the Irish Horse Racing Board
Getty Images

Trainer Gordon Elliott has apologised “profoundly” after admitting a photo of him sitting on a dead horse while on a phone call is real.

The picture of the Irishman, who trained Tiger Roll to back-to-back Grand National successes, emerged on social media on Sunday with some suggestions that it was fake.

But Elliot later admitted that the photograph in question was genuine.

The 42-year-old said: “I apologise profoundly for any offence that this photo has caused and can categorically state that the welfare of each and every horse under my care is paramount and has been central to the success that we have enjoyed here at Cullentra.

“The photo in question was taken some time ago and occurred after a horse had died of an apparent heart attack on the gallops. I appreciate that an initial viewing of this photo suggests it is a callous and staged photo but nothing could be further from the truth.

“At what was a sad time, which is when any horse under my care passes away, my initial reaction was to get the body removed from where it was positioned.

“I was standing over the horse waiting to help with the removal of the body, in the course of which, to my memory I received a phone call and, without thinking, I sat down to take it. Hearing a shout from one of my team, I gestured to wait until I was finished.”

Betfair on Monday ended its relationship with Elliott, who had been an ambassador for the betting company.

“While we recognise that Gordon deeply regrets and apologised unreservedly for his poor judgement his actions are completely at odds with the values of the Betfair brand and that of our employees,” a Betfair spokesperson told the BBC.

“With that in mind, we have decided to discontinue our association with Gordon with immediate effect.”

But he was supported by Michael O’Leary, owner of Tiger Roll. O’Leary said: “We accept that this moment was a grievous but momentary lapse of judgement by Gordon, and not in keeping with our 15-year experience of his concern for and attention to the welfare of our horses. We all make mistakes and what’s important is that we learn from them and ensure we do not repeat them.”

Elliott is currently preparing for the Cheltenham Festival later this month where he boasts 32 winners, including the 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup with Don Cossack.

But he now finds himself in the midst of an Irish Horse Racing Board (IHRB) investigation into the photograph of him straddling the dead horse.

IHRB chief executive Denis Egan said: “I can’t put a timeline on it but the investigation is ongoing and will be dealt with as quickly as possible.”

The British Horseracing Authority is “considering its own regulatory options”, saying it is “appalled” by the image.

A statement read: “The BHA is appalled by the image that appeared this weekend. We expect all those in our sport to demonstrate respect for horses, on the racecourse, in the training yard, on the gallops, and wherever they have horses in their care.

“People who work in our industry believe their values - of caring for and respecting our horses - have been deeply undermined by this behaviour. On their behalf, and on behalf of all horse lovers, we say loudly that British horseracing finds this totally unacceptable.

“The BHA is considering its own regulatory options, recognising that the Irish authorities license Mr Elliott and are carrying out their own investigation.”

Elliott could find himself facing a disrepute charge, the penalty for which varies from a fine to a full suspension, and he said he was fully cooperating with the authorities.

He added: “To the racing community, to anyone who has worked with and loves horses and to anyone offended by this image I cannot apologise enough.

“Horse welfare and the care and attention to detail involved is absolutely at the core of everything we do here and both myself and all of my team pride ourselves on those standards.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in