Sam Coen Suspended As IHRB Refers Apprentice Over Ballinrobe Weight Breach
Sam Coen has been suspended for four racedays and referred to the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board Senior Medical Officer after raceday stewards found he presented himself 2lb overweight for Delusional at Ballinrobe on Monday.
The case came before the stewards after the IHRB Clerk of the Scales reported that Coen was due to ride Daniel McLoughlin’s Delusional in the Ronan & Tom Gibbons Apprentice Claiming Race but arrived to weigh out 2lb above the required mark, with the excess not declared.
McLoughlin requested a rider change, and the stewards allowed P.A. Harnett to replace Coen.
Their official report said Coen told the enquiry he had arrived 40 minutes before the first race and was unable to shed the weight required.
Fourth offence brings medical referral
The stewards ruled Coen had breached Rule 198(vii), noted it was his fourth offence in that regard and imposed a four-raceday suspension, according to the IHRB Ballinrobe stewards report.
The referral adds a sharper regulatory edge to the incident, with Coen now sent to the IHRB Senior Medical Officer for reassessment of his minimum riding weight.
It came on a card where he later rode Daboya to win the GAIN The Advantage Series Handicap for Dick Donohoe, underlining the unusual timing of a case centred on race-one weight compliance rather than riding conduct.
