Full coverage: Turf Club

Covid-19 and last year's six-figure defamation payout to Turf Club security chief Chris Gordon have left the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association close to broke. The representative body is now hoping to overturn the High Court jury decision on appeal.

Turf Club security chief Chris Gordon launched an anti-doping crackdown to preserve the reputation of Irish horse racing. Instead, he ended up fighting for his own good name. This is the full story of the bruising courtroom battle that exposed the tensions at the heart of two sporting institutions.

After a five-year wait, Chris Gordon's defamation action against the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association finally opens before a jury. In a hard-fought legal battle, startling new allegations emerge. As the Doyles take to the stand, the stakes get higher still.

From an alleged vendetta to "little Hitler syndrome", the stakes get higher as the lawyers move in. Trainers make claims of heavy-handed tactics during anti-doping inspections and the Turf Club's security chief files for defamation.

He started an anti-doping fight in Irish horse racing and ended up standing in the crosshairs. Six years on, Chris Gordon of the Turf Club has triumphed after a hard-won legal battle. In the first of a three-part series, The Currency looks at how a bruising rift engulfed the top echelons of the sport.