Irish trainer Gordon Elliott given 12-month ban

Gordon Elliott, one of Europe’s leading steeplechase trainers, was suspended 12 months and fined approximately $17,860 on Friday after a photo emerged on social media in late February of him sitting on a deceased horse in a paddock.

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Body announced the penalty Friday, the same day a hearing was held at Naas Racecourse. The suspension begins Tuesday.

Six months of the suspension was stayed, meaning that Elliott’s massive stable will not have horses racing in his name at prestigious events such as the Cheltenham Festival in England on March 16-19, the Grand National Festival in England on April 8-10, or the Punchestown Festival in Ireland from April 27 to May 1.

Elliott was found in violation of a rule “preserving the good reputation of horseracing.” In their decision, the three-person referrals committee of the Irish regulatory body cited a clause related to a person who “acts in a manner which is prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct or good reputation of horseracing.”

Elliott, who has expressed remorse to the racing press for the 2019 photo, indicated he would not appeal the decision. The penalty also takes his runners out of contention for a majority of the Irish turf flat season, which begins later this month.

A native of Ireland, Elliott has been the leading trainer at Cheltenham twice, in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, Elliott equaled fellow Irishman Willie Mullins’s 2015 record of eight wins over four days. He won the meeting’s most prestigious race, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, with Don Cossack in 2016.

Last year, Elliott tied with Mullins with seven wins at Cheltenham, but lost the title because Mullins had more third-place finishes among the 28 races.

In recent days, some of the leading steeplechases horses trained by Elliott have been moved to other trainers, notably Envoi Allen, a highly-regarded novice chaser who is now with Henry de Bromhead.

It was not immediately clear Friday who would train the scores of horses that Elliott has nominated to races at Cheltenham later this month.

Elliott, who turned 43 on Tuesday, began training in 2006 and won his first of three English Grand Nationals the following year with Silver Birch. The Elliott-trained Tiger Roll won the race in 2018 and 2019. The race was not held in 2020.

Recently, Tiger Roll was declared from this year’s Grand National after owner Michael O’Leary, who races as Giggingstown House Stud, said he was unsatisfied with the weight assignment.

While well known for his success in jump races, Elliott trained Commissioned who won the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2016. Elliott has had four steeplechase winners in the United States, most notably Jury Duty in the Grand National at Far Hills in New Jersey in 2018.

Elliott trained Beckford, who was fifth in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar, and Longclaw, who was third in the Gainesway Farm Juvenile at Kentucky Downs in 2019.