Irish owner and trainer Luke Comer has been ordered to pay over €750,000 in legal costs by the IRHB and had his licence withdrawn for a three-year period.

Following a long-running investigation held by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, that dated back to October 2021, when He Knows No Fear tested positive for an anabolic steroid after running in a Listed contest at Leopardstown, Luke Comer will have his licence withdrawn for three years.

The IRHB visited Comer's yard back in November 2021 on the back of He Knows No Fear's positive sample and took further hair samples from a number of horses that resulted in eleven positive results for the same banned substance.

A nine-day hearing took place in May and although the Referrals Committee did not believe there was sufficient evidence of deliberate doping, they failed to find any other plausible explanation and were forced to find Comer accountable of serious rule breaches and ordered his license to be withdrawn from January 1st, 2024.

Fines of €85,000 were put in place but more significantly, Comer was ordered to pay 80% of the €755,000 legal costs by the IRHB.

The trainer and billionaire businessman Luke Comer has seven days to lodge an appeal.