Sir Mark Todd has been suspended from training racehorses for four months after a video showed him hitting a horse with a tree branch.
Sir Mark Todd. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
However, the former Olympic equestrian champion can resume training with immediate effect having already served a two-month interim suspension, and the other two months have been suspended.
The 66-year-old was deemed to have acted in a manner prejudicial to racing's reputation when striking a horse with a branch during a cross-country schooling session last year.
Footage of the incident came to light in January, which drew widespread criticism and prompted an apology from Todd.
The New Zealander, who trains in Wiltshire, was given an interim suspension by the British Horseracing Authority in February.
Brian Barker QC, chair of the independent panel of the BHA that heard the case, said: "In the view of the panel the actions of Sir Mark could not be condoned in any form."
The video analysed by the BHA panel lasted one minute 43 seconds and showed Todd striking the horse nine times with part of a branch as he tried to coax it towards a water jump.
While noting Todd's apology after the footage came to light, Barker said "his prominence and achievements have set a high bar".
He added that the "use of a light branch rather than a cushioned whip was not appropriate" and that the perception risk was foreseeable.
Sir Mark Todd. Photo: Photosport
Barker described Todd as "one of the foremost horsemen of his generation".
Todd won Olympic individual eventing gold at Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988, and earned a knighthood for his equestrian achievements in 2013.
He became a racehorse trainer in 2019 after retiring from three-day eventing, and sent out 13 winners on the Flat in 2021.
-BBC
