Sir Mark Todd: Disciplinary case against trainer adjourned

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Former Olympic champion Sir Mark Todd retired from eventing in 2019 to focus on training racehorses

Sir Mark Todd's disciplinary case after a video showed him hitting a horse with a tree branch has been adjourned.

The former Olympic equestrian champion turned racehorse trainer, 66, was given an interim suspension last month.

An independent panel of the British Horseracing Authority was due to decide on Thursday whether his conduct was prejudicial to racing's reputation.

But panel chairman James O'Mahony said there were "legal issues which required careful consideration".

A date for the new hearing has not been set.

New Zealander Todd, who trains in Wiltshire, has apologised for his actions.

A video on social media showed him striking the horse multiple times with a tree branch on 29 August 2020 as he coaxed it towards the water jump in a cross-country schooling session.

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.

Todd sent out 13 winners on the Flat in 2021.