Sir Mark Todd has been suspended from coaching racehorses for 4 months after a video confirmed him hitting a horse with a tree department.
Nevertheless, the previous Olympic equestrian champion can resume coaching with quick impact having already served a two-month interim suspension, and the opposite two months have been suspended.
The 66-year-old was deemed to have acted in a way prejudicial to racing’s repute when hanging a horse with a department throughout a cross-country education session final yr.
Footage of the incident got here to mild in January, which drew widespread criticism and prompted an apology from Todd.
The New Zealander, who trains in Wiltshire, was given an interim suspension by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) in February.
Brian Barker QC, chair of the impartial panel of the BHA that heard the case, stated: “Within the view of the panel the actions of Sir Mark couldn’t be condoned in any type.”
The video analysed by the BHA panel lasted one minute 43 seconds and confirmed Todd hanging the horse 9 instances with a part of a department as he tried to coax it in the direction of a water leap.
Whereas noting Todd’s apology after the footage got here to mild, Barker stated “his prominence and achievements have set a excessive bar”.
He added that the “use of a lightweight department reasonably than a cushioned whip was not applicable” and that the notion threat was foreseeable.
Barker described Todd as “one of many foremost horsemen of his technology”.
Todd received Olympic particular person eventing gold at Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988, and earned a knighthood for his equestrian achievements in 2013.
He grew to become a racehorse coach in 2019 after retiring from three-day eventing, and despatched out 13 winners on the Flat in 2021.
