Graham Bradley

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Graham Bradley was a professional horse racer and a member of the National Hunt Jockey Club. On November 29, 2002 he was banned from the Club for breaking six of its rules. [1]

Contents

Career

Throughout his career, Bradley had many horseracing wins [2] including: riding Bregawn – Michael Dickinson’s Cheltenham Gold Cup (1983) winner, [3] the Champion Hurdle on Collier Bay (1996) [4] and the Grand National Hennessy Gold Cup (1997). [5]

Following his ban from the Club, Bradley set out to become a horseracing trainer, but he abandoned this plan in 2015. [6]

Winning horses

Since his retirement in 1999 [7] Bradley has purchased a few champion horses.  Seebald won seven races before finishing second in the Irish Independent Arkle Challenge Trophy [8] at the Cheltenham Festival in 2002.

Controversy

Bradley has received various punishments over the years including:

  1. 1982: withdrawal of license for two months due to bet placement at Cartmel, [9]
  2. 1987: banned for five months under the "non-triers" rule after a race at Market Rasen, [10]
  3. 1987: fined £2,500 for trying to end the race at the Cheltenham Gold Cup, anticipating unfavorable conditions for Forgive 'N' Forget, [11]
  4. 1988: heavily fined alongside Geoff Harker due to missing both a fence and an entire circuit at the Sedgefield races [12]
  5. 1996: pulled up Man Mood, the odds-on favourite, in a race at Warwick, [13]
  6. 1999: Jockey Club licence suspension [14] and racehorse access restricted following the Metropolitan Police’s charge against him. The charges were filed against him on April 13, 1999 due to the incident in 1996. [15] Two months later this was rescinded by Crown Prosecution Service which withdrew the charges against him since the original charge was subject to review. [16] The rules he broke were: 204 (iv),  Rule 62(ii)(c), Rule 220(vii)(b), Rule 220(viii) Rule 220(iii) and Rule 140. [17]

Throughout the 1990's, an investigation into Bradley's actions occurred due to concerns about race fixing. These events were what led to his retirement. [18] In 2014, Bradley was cleared of charges alleging he was training horses under the name of Brendan Powell. [19] In 2019, Irish authorities allowed Bradley to register as a racehorse owner. [20] Marchons Ensemble came second in his name. [21] Bradley has been referred to as “one of racing’s most controversial characters". [22]

Publications

The Wayward Lad was a Ghost-written autobiography on him by Steve Taylor. [23]

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References

  1. ↑ "Eight year ban for Bradley". 2002-12-02. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  2. ↑ "Graham Bradley | Horse Records | Racing Post". www.racingpost.com. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  3. ↑ "Cheltenham Gold Cup 1983 | Gold Cup". 2019-10-21. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  4. ↑ "Old pays tribute to 'street-fighting' Champion Hurdle winner Collier Bay | Horse Racing News | Racing Post". www.racingpost.com. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  5. ↑ "Suny Bay enjoys spectacular victory". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  6. ↑ "Bradley drops plan to become trainer". BBC Sport. 2015-09-03. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  7. ↑ "Graham Bradley withdraws application for training licence". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  8. ↑ "Horseracing: Festival next stop for Seebald". Irish Examiner. 2002-01-21. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  9. ↑ "Claims Five: Why Graham Bradley is a legend". the Guardian. 2010-09-10. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  10. ↑ "Full Result 1.15 Market Rasen | 7 January 1987 | Racing Post". www.racingpost.com. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  11. ↑ "Bradley faces long list of charges today; Bradley inquiry may be three-day epic. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  12. ↑ Horse Racing's Strangest Tales. Portico. 16 February 2017. ISBN   9781911042839.
  13. ↑ "BBC News | Jockey Club". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  14. ↑ "Graham Bradley banned for eight years". the Guardian. 2002-11-30. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  15. ↑ "Jockey in court on race fix claim".
  16. ↑ "Jockey Club Remove Restrictions on Graham Bradley". The British Horseracing Authority. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  17. ↑ "Graham Bradley Appeal Board Result". The British Horseracing Authority. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  18. ↑ Modern Sports Law: A Textbook. Bloomsbury. 26 October 2010. ISBN   9781847317377.
  19. ↑ "Graham Bradley withdraws application for training licence". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  20. ↑ "Talking Horses: Graham Bradley back in the game as an owner in Ireland". the Guardian. 2019-06-26. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  21. ↑ "Marchons Ensemble | Horse Profile | Sky Sports Horse Racing". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  22. ↑ Lee, Alan. "Graham Bradley in trouble for 'training' Brendan Powell horses". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  23. ↑ "Graham Bradley THE WAYWARD LAD First Edition Signed". books-and-records.com. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
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