John 'Shark' Hanlon, who will begin his six-month ban on Dec. 1, has appointed Tara Lee Cogan as his temporary replacement, he announced on Friday.
“Tara Cogan is going to take over training,” said Hanlon, who was originally supposed to serve a 10-month ban, but had that reduced on appeal. “She's a friend not too far from me and she's moving into my yard. She takes over on Monday.”
The Referrals Committee of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) ruled Hanlon had acted in a manner that “caused significant prejudice to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of the sport of racing” in the manner he removed a deceased horse from his yard earlier this year, which resulted in his ban.
Added Hanlon, who dispersed some of his horses at Goffs in October, “We haven't a lot of horses to run, we only have seven, eight or 10 to run, so she's taking over and I'm delighted because she's been a friend for years and she knows the run of the yard because she used to come down and work her own horses with mine.
“She only has three or four horses, so they're coming down to my yard over the weekend, and she's keeping on my staff, which is very important. Rachel [O'Neill, Hanlon's partner] will be there to give her a hand with whatever she wants to know as well.
“I'll take a sideline as my sister is not well in America and I'm bringing my mother to America to see her. We'll take a sideline for the time being and the sooner this is over the better.”
As a result of Cogan taking over, stable darling Hewick (Ire) (Virtual {GB}) is still possible for the G1 Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.
“The plan the whole time was to run at Christmas somewhere,” Hanlon added of Hewick. “He's entered in the King George and he'll probably be entered for Leopardstown. Whatever Tara and Rachel want to do it'll be no problem. Tara is friendly with the man that owns Hewick as well, he'd know her.
“I'm taking a holiday for a couple of months and will see if I can replace some of the horses I lost.”
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