No change in Gigginstown Fenton plans

Gigginstown House Stud have no intention of replicating the decision of fellow owner Barry Connell to bench his Philip Fenton-trained runners until the handler's ongoing court case is resolved.

Fenton is facing eight charges over the alleged possession of banned animal remedies, including steroids, with his case adjourned until after the Cheltenham Festival following a brief hearing on Thursday.

Connell has since ruled that with the "uncertainy" over the issue, he would sooner not run his leading light The Tullow Tank at the Festival and has also moved his Champion Bumper contender Volvalien out of the firing line, but Gigginstown, have leading Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup candidate Last Instalment in training with Fenton and they do not envisage any change of plan due to the handler's case.

Racing manager Eddie O'Leary said: "Philip Fenton is adamant he has done nothing wrong and we're happy that he has done nothing wrong.

"As it stands we have no problem running horses in Ireland or Britain. A man is innocent until proven guilty."

Fenton's Desertmore Storm, carrying the colours of Gigginstown, was second at Clonmel on Thursday.

Fenton's case was adjourned until March 20th - nine days after the Festival is due to begin - following a brief hearing at Carrick-on-Suir District Court, prompting Connell to rethink his options for the two-times Grade One winner The Tullow Tank.

He told Press Association Sport: "The case has been adjourned and due to the uncertainty surrounding the matter, I have decided the two horses I have in training with Philip won't run again until the matter is dealt with.

"Both horses will remain in training with Philip."

The Tullow Tank was prominent in the betting for the Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle at the Festival on March 12.

The case against Fenton was brought about by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine following an inspection of the County Tipperary trainer's yard on January 18, 2012.

Declan Molan, solicitor for Fenton, told the court on Thursday morning that he wished to make submissions ''in relation to the summonses themselves''.

Judge Terence Finn granted four weeks to allow submissions to be written and filed with the prosecution.

''If the submissions affect this court's jurisdiction to deal with this matter, that is a matter that has to be taken in advance,'' the judge said.

The court was told 12 to 15 witnesses are expected to be called in the case, including one witness from France.

No plea has been entered and Fenton did not attend.

John Ryan, junior counsel for the state, objected to the adjournment.

He said: ''It's only very recently we have heard anything about this. It's a very vague and nebulous thing, I say, to prevent the hearing of the matter that may or may not go to the jurisdiction of the case."

Submissions from the defence must be submitted one week before the case is mentioned again in the District Court, the judge said.

Fenton faces charges in relation to alleged possession of Nitrotain and Ilium Stanabolic and prescription medicines including Engemycin 10%, Neomycin Penicillin and Marbocyl 10%.