31 January 2023 , 15:31
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Successful Irish trainer Ronan McNally has been hit with a huge 12-year disqualification from racing after he was sentenced for a string of integrity offences.
Best known as the trainer of 11-time winner The Jam Man and Grade 2 winner Dreal Deal, McNally was ordered to pay €50,000 [£44,000] in costs and return over €13,000 [£11,000] prize-money by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's referrals committee.
McNally had been found in December to have caused "serious damage to the interests of horseracing in Ireland" when ten of the 11 charges against him were found proven.
These included conspiring with fellow trainer David Dunne to conceal the ownership of two horses.
Dunne, the brother of jump jockey Robbie Dunne who was found guilty of bullying Bryony Frost, received a two-year suspension with the final 18 months suspended for two years, fined €5,000 [£4,400] and ordered to return prize-money won from 36 races in which the horses ran under concealed ownership.
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Announcing the sentences, the IHRB committee 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. Mr. McNally is declared a Disqualified Person under the Rules for a period of 12 years.”
Both Dreal Deal and The Jam Man were named in charges related to using the racecourse as a training ground, as well as not running on their merits. As a result Dreal Deal forfeited 2020 wins at Navan and Limerick and The Jam Man was disqualified from a race in Limerick the same year.
Ronan McNallly (right) celebrating a win by Dreal Deal with son Tiernan (PA)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”.
Ciarán Fennessy, a licensed point-to-point handler, was disqualified for three years, of which the final two years were suspended, and fined €5,000 [£4,400] for passing on inside information for betting purposes..
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.