Former head of security and investigations at the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) Chris Gordon has reached agreement with the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association (IRTA) for damages and costs awarded to him in the High Court in 2020.Gordon, who joined the IHRB in 2010, but whose position was scrapped by the regulator last year, took a defamation action against the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association in 2016 after the trainers’ body falsely accused him of concocting evidence during an inspection of a yard owned by trainer Liz Doyle, daughter of former Fine Gael MEP Avril Doyle, carried out in 2014.He was awarded €300,000 following a 30-day High Court trial which ended in March 2020. A jury found he had been the subject of an “orchestrated and severe campaign” against his good name by the IRTA. Gordon’s legal costs were estimated at more than €1 million. Overall costs in the case have been estimated at €2.3 million.A subsequent appeal by the IRTA against the verdict was unsuccessful in December of 2022.In that Court of Appeal judgment, Judge Brian Murray concluded that the “campaign of defamation” came from “a powerful and extremely influential group within the horse racing industry” in an attempt to prevent Gordon from investigating its members.The question of how the IRTA would pay has dragged on since. The trainers’ body said it didn’t have the money and pointed to how it’s registered as a company limited by guarantee. It said its limited-guarantee status meant members’ liability was limited to £5 – in old punts – per person.On Thursday Gordon was due to appear before the High Court to appoint a receiver to the trainers’ organisation which receives money annually from a percentage of prize money won by its members. However, the parties reached a settlement before that.Asked for comment on Friday, Gordon said he was “quite satisfied” with the agreement although he refused to go into details on any settlement. “I wish the trainers well. I got on well with all of them, except for a few people that tried to prevent me doing my job,” he said. Gordon also expressed his belief that the long-running dispute ultimately cost him his role at the IHRB.“I know it was a very small minority that created this problem. It’s cost an awful lot of money and wasted money and time for both parties over the years,” he said. Earlier this year, Gordon and his deputy at the IHRB, Declan Buckley, settled with their former employer in an adjudication at the Workplace Relations Commission over the terms of their redundancy.On Friday, IRTA chief executive Feidhlim Cunningham confirmed that a settlement with Gordon has been reached, although he wouldn’t go into details.“We came to a settlement and it is confidential. We are looking forward to the future,” said Cunningham, who was appointed to the role in 2024.