Stephen Mahon has been banned from training horses for four years by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board.
The Galway trainer was found to have broken animal welfare rules by an IHRB Referrals Committee panel following an inspection at his Kilcolgan stables on April 13 of this year.
Evidence was heard that a horse, referred to as Animal A in the IHRB report, who had to be put down on the day of the inspection due to a "catastrophically injured" fetlock joint, was entered to run in a race at Ballinrobe later that week.
Another horse in Mahon's yard was reported to be "emaciated", with the panel documenting failings relating to 11 horses in total.
The IHRB Committee found Mahon was in breach of Rule 148(i), Rule 148(iv), Rule 149 and Rule 272(i).
The rules relate to the welfare of horses under a trainer’s care, the registration of staff and bringing racing into disrepute.
The IHRB ordered the withdrawal of Mahon's current training licence and further ordered that he is suspended from holding such a licence for a period of four years until 14th April 2025. He was also ordered to pay €5,000 in costs.
The panel was chaired by Mr. Justice Tony Hunt, with over 16 hours of evidence heard from 13 witnesses, including Mahon.
It is the second time the trainer has been punished by the IHRB for the neglect of animals in his care.
In 2008, his licence was suspended for four months after a horse named Pike Bridge was found to have been neglected so much that she had eaten at her own legs. She was later put down.
Mahon was also ordered to pay the horse's owner €34,000 in damages by the Circuit Civil Court.
