Controversial ex-trainer Ronan McNally is readying a High Court action against the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) over his record disqualification from the sport.
In 2023, Co Armagh-based McNally received an unprecedented 12-year disqualification from the IHRB for multiple breaches of the integrity rules.
He was found to have caused “serious damage to the interests of horse racing in Ireland” by an IHRB referrals panel.
Following high-profile wins for McNally-owned and trained horses such as The Jam Man and Dreal Deal, it was judged he had achieved “a pattern of improvement in form of horses at a level previously unfamiliar to experienced and long-serving handicapping officials”.
McNally was also found to have conspired with trainer David Dunne to have concealed his ownership of other horses and conspired with point-to-point handler Ciaran Fennessy by passing on inside information for betting purposes.
In June of last year, McNally’s appeal against the penalties was dismissed although the final four years of the sanction were suspended subject to certain conditions.
Strict rules about people “warned off” that previously prevented them from accessing any IHRB-licensed premises were also eased, allowing McNally to work in racing and go to the races on occasion.
McNally, who has a kitchen-fitting business in Armagh, previously held a restricted licence and hit the headlines with a series of high-profile gambles including when Dreal Deal won in Navan in 2020 after being backed from 20-1 into 6-4 favourite.
As well as being disqualified, McNally was fined €50,000 and ordered to repay prize money of more than €13,000 after being judged to have treated the rules of racing in a “cavalier” manner.
The disqualification is by far the most punitive handed out to a trainer in Ireland.
In July, billionaire businessman Luke Comer began a three-year licence suspension after the most extensive doping controversy in Irish racing history. An IHRB raid on his stables saw a dozen horses test positive for the anabolic steroids methandienone and methyltestosterone.
On Monday, McNally said papers have been served to the IHRB but declined to comment further. He has previously argued that the penalties imposed on him are effectively a lifetime ban. “I can’t see how I’m the worst person that’s ever come into Irish racing,” he said last year.
An IHRB spokesman said on Monday: “We can confirm that correspondence was received this morning and is being examined by our legal team. We have no additional comment at this time.”
During the summer, the ex-McNally owned and trained Petrol Head was in the spotlight when withdrawn from the Guinness Galway Hurdle by order of the stewards just hours before the race.
It subsequently emerged the horse tested positive for a medication prohibited on race day after it had won its previous race in Bellewstown. Following an IHRB investigation, no action was taken in respect of the adverse analytical finding.
Petrol Head had been due to line up in the Galway Hurdle for the Orchard Garden Syndicate ownership. After Petrol Head’s shock withdrawal, his trainer Katy Brown said there was “no connection whatsoever” between the horse and McNally.
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