A greyhound control steward in Dundalk stadium has resigned following allegations that he allowed a “ringer” to win a race last June.

Declan Haughey left his position at the end of last year after an internal investigation found irregularities in a race in which Mays Hurryonboy, a novice, won in a near course-record time of 28.4 seconds, 13 lengths clear of second place.

As the two-year-old dog’s time was more than two seconds faster than in a trial three weeks earlier, it raised instant suspicions among spectators and bookmakers. Greyhound sources said a two-second improvement in three weeks was almost unprecedented.

The case is the latest in a series of alleged cheating incidents and disputes to beset the Irish Greyhound Board (IGB), which will get almost €12m in state funding this year.

There is anger in the greyhound community about the findings of the initial probe into the alleged “ringer”, which was conducted by Pat Herbert, the board’s head of regulation, and Jim O’Dwyer, its HR manager. That report rejected the “ringer” allegations and said that the dog’s previous slow time was due to an injury. The investigators were told the dog, which hasn’t raced since, had been sold to the UK.

The investigation concluded that a stewards’ inquiry should have been held on June 15 — the night of the race — due to the dog’s improvement and because it was presented at the pre-race weigh-in by an alleged “unauthorised person”.

A letter from Herbert says the IGB viewed the matter “largely as an issue of the non-performance” of stewarding in Dundalk on the night. This outcome was widely deemed unacceptable, and there were demands for the owners and trainers of Mays Hurryonboy, as well as those who who may have provided a replacement dog, to face disciplinary procedures.

The IGB was forced to reopen its investigation as new details emerged in November. Jim Martin, chief executive of Dundalk stadium, told Herbert and Adrian Neilan, chief executive of the IGB, that he had reviewed a recording of the race with Denis Lee, a colleague, and was satisfied “as a matter of fact” that the winning dog “was not Mays Hurryonboy and is 100% a ringer”.

An unnamed director at Dundalk Stadium wrote: “This is not personal. This is about upholding the highest possible standards in greyhound racing ... we are in receipt of millions of euro of state funding. We have invested this money in our industry and sport and therefore we need to run our business to the highest standards of integrity. The mere hint of a ringer is tantamount to destroying our good name.”

The IGB said last week that it had referred the incident to its independent control committee which is chaired by Kevin Heffernan, the former Dublin football manager. It will meet on January 20.

“Our investigations have revealed a number of issues which need to be considered,” said Neilan. “These will be examined by the control committee prior to any possible further action being undertaken.”

In his November email, Martin said he would recommend to his board that all those involved with Mays Hurryonboy be banned from Dundalk stadium. These included Tyrone Downey, the trainer of the dog and a cousin of Declan Haughey, the steward; and Gary Haughey, the steward’s brother, who presented the dog at weigh-in. Gary Haughey, a solicitor in Northern Ireland, did not return calls seeking comment.

It is understood that all those involved have denied that Mays Hurryonboy was replaced with another dog.

Mays Hurryonboy’s registered owner is May Aylward, a greyhound owner in Waterford. Perry Aylward, her husband, denied that anything untoward happened in the Dundalk race. “We know of the allegations,” he said. “We’ve made a statement to the IGB.”

Aylward said that they still owned Mays Hurryonboy but declined to say where the dog was or why it had not raced since. He questioned how feasible it was for Martin to say his blue-coloured dog had been replaced by a ringer after studying a DVD. “You might be able to distinguish one greyhound from another, but that’s it,” he said. “I’ve a lot of greyhounds and I’ve had to put numbers on them to tell them apart.”

Aylward warned that it would be “very costly” if Lee and Martin’s claims were wrong. They won €230 prize money.

Bookmakers lost money on the unexpected outcome of the race. One who spoke to The Sunday Times last week said he had paid out €700, but this was not an unusually large amount.