Horse racing trainer Ronan McNally has been banned from Irish racing for 12 years and fined €50,000 in costs after being found guilty of breaking a number of racing rules following an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board investigation and hearing.
The IHRB’s referrals committee ruled the Armagh man breached a number of rules, including one charge of running and training his horses in a manner “prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of horseracing” following a four-day hearing in October.
McNally was determined to be at least partially in breach of 10 of 11 alleged rule infringements, with the verdict announced in December ahead of sanctions being unveiled on Tuesday.
In handing down the penalty, which takes effect on March 1, the IHRB said: “The committee regards the findings against Mr McNally as very serious.
“His offences strike at the integrity of the sport and the objective of having a level playing field for all who send horses out to race. They also involved a deception of the public, especially the betting public.
“The committee has taken into account the submissions made on his behalf and his past record and the effect that severe sanctions will have on him.”
McNally has enjoyed notable success with Dreal Deal and The Jam Man in recent seasons, with the first-named landing the Grade Two Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle in 2021 and both notching up sequences of wins from lowly starting marks.
However, the pair were mentioned specifically in charges related to using the racecourse as a training ground, as well as not running on their merits, and both have been disqualified from previous victories.
Dreal Deal has forfeited wins at Navan in September, 2020 and Limerick in October of that year, while The Jam Man is disqualified from Limerick in September, 2020.
McNally was deemed to have achieved “a pattern of improvement in form of horses at a level previously unfamiliar to experienced and long-serving handicapping officials”.
He was also found to have incorrectly lodged ownership details of All Class, Full Noise and Petrol Head – with McNally admitting he was “unaware of the requirement to register the correct ownership details”.
Another trainer, David Dunne, was found to have supplied “misleading information and/or false information to an official at a stewards’ inquiry” at Navan in March 2021 as well as failing to lodge the correct ownership details related to handicap winners All Class, Full Noise and Petrol Head, all of whom ran for him between October 2020 and August 2021.
Dunne’s licence will be suspended for a period of two years, with the last 18 months suspended for a period of two years and fined €5,000. Any prize money won by All Class, Full Noise or Petrol Head when under Dunne’s care will also be forfeited with the horses disqualified.
Point-to-point handler Ciaran Fennessy was found in breach of three charges and after taking into account mitigating factors, his licence has been suspended for three years, with final two years suspended for five years. He was also fined €5,000.
Jockeys Darragh O’Keeffe and Mark Enright were found to have failed to make reports on slow starts for Dreal Deal when they rode him in June and July 2020 respectively and reminded of their duty to do so, while Eoin O’Brien was found in breach of four charges, including that he schooled the horse in public, and he will serve a 21-day ban.
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