Billionaire Luke Comer disqualified from racing after failing to pay £1m penalty from ‘biggest ever’ drugs scandal

SportHorse Racing King’s Bastion owner Luke Comer (right) receiving his trophy from Pat Downes of Bord Na Mona after victory in the Bord Na Mona – Clean Air Maiden Hurdle during the Christmas Festival at Leopardstown Racecourse, Dublin, Ireland. Credit: PA BILLIONAIRE racehorse owner and trainer Luke Comer has been disqualified from the sport over an unpaid £1MILLION penalty – stemming from Irish racing’s ‘biggest ever’ drugs scandal. In an ‘unprecedented’ discovery, some 12 horses at Comer’s yard tested positive for anabolic steroids in September 2023. Billionaire businessman, racehorse owner and trainer Luke Comer, right, has been disqualified from racing over an unpaid £1m penalty stemming from Ireland’s ‘biggest ever’ doping scandal Credit: PA Comer, five from the left, was at the Curragh on Sunday presenting the trophy for the Irish St Leger, won by Aidan O’Brien’s Scandinavia Credit: Sportsfile Comer denied any wrongdoing and any knowledge of how the drugs got into the horses but had his licence suspended by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board. An IHRB referrals panel ultimately failed to establish how the substances got into the horses and found there was no evidence of deliberate doping. As the licence holder, however, the buck stopped with Comer, despite him saying he spends only three months of the year in Ireland. Comer, who made his money working in property alongside his brother Brian, failed in his appeal against the suspension and was hit with a fine and legal costs totalling more than £700,000. He had tried arguing the horses tested positive as a result of contaminated feed or pig slurry fertiliser. According to reports, the total figure Comer, a resident of Monaco, owes the IHRB is now in excess of £1.1m. It is his failure to pay that sum that has led to him being disqualified. That means Comer – who saddled a 200-1 winner the month before his horses were tested – cannot train, enter or own any horse in a race. Most read in Horse Racing He is also barred from certain areas of racecourses such as the parade ring and weighing room – although he was at the Curragh last Sunday to present the trophy of the Irish St Leger, a race sponsored by his company Comer Group. An IHRB statement said: “In May 2024, the appeals body considered Mr Luke Comer’s appeal against the September 2023 decision of the referrals committee relating to adverse analytical findings. “The appeals body confirmed the penalties imposed for breaches of Rule 96(a) and (b)/(c). “It directed that the fines be paid by July 15, 2024, and awarded costs in favour of the IHRB. “The fines remain unpaid and the costs awarded to the IHRB remain outstanding. “Under the rules of racing, sums due to the IHRB which have not been paid when due or on demand constitute arrears. “Rule 165 provides that the forfeit lists shall include such arrears by whom they are due. “The forfeit list is maintained and published by Horse Racing Ireland in accordance with HRI directive eight.” Comment now