Rob James will face an IHRB Referrals Committee today.
The amateur jockey was captured pretending to ride a recently-deceased horse in a video widely circulated last week.
The incident happened in 2016 and the amateur jockey made an apology; in it, he said he was “heartbroken” by the damage done by his “wholly inappropriate and disrespectful” actions.
“I would just like to apologise for my actions which were wholly inappropriate and disrespectful to a lovely five-year-old mare, who unfortunately suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while at exercise earlier that morning, April 30th, 2016.
“I sincerely apologise to the owners of the mare, the staff who cared for her, the horseracing industry, and all followers of horse racing for my actions” said the statement.
Trainer Gordon Elliott was handed a six-month suspension and a fine last week for a picture of him taking a call on a dead horse.
The IHRB investigation into a video circulating on social media last week has concluded and a referral hearing will take place on Wednesday. The IHRB will not be commenting further on this matter until after the hearing.
— IHRB (@ihrb_ie) March 9, 2021
