Ronan McNally has been served what’s believed to be a record 12-year ban from Irish horse racing after being found guilty of ‘multiple integrity breaches’.
On top of his disqualification from Irish racing, McNally has been fined £44,000 (€50,000) and ordered to repay around £11,800 (€13,400) in winnings. The County Armagh trainer was determined to have been ‘at least partially in breach’ of 10 of 11 alleged rule violations when the verdict was confirmed in December 2022.
“The committee regards the findings against Mr McNally as very serious,” read the verdict from the IHRB. “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.
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“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 was found to have trained his horses “prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct and good reputation of horseracing” following a four-day hearing in October. One of his horses, Dreal Deal, has had two wins from autumn 2020 disqualified in relation to a law concerning ‘improvement in form’, while Jam Man has conceded a runner-up finish in Limerick after it was found he had been the subject of ‘fraudulent practice’.
McNally was also found guilty of conspiring with fellow trainer David Dunne to conceal his ownership of Full Noise and All Class. Dunne has been served a two-year suspension from Irish horse racing, though the final 18 months of his sentence are suspended for two years.
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Dunne’s punishment relates to 36 races run by All Class, Full Noise and Petrol Head under his name, as well as giving “misleading information and/or false information to an official at a stewards’ inquiry” at Navan in March 2021. He’s been fined £4,400 (€5,000) and also ordered to pay back £23,785 in prize money accrued by the trio, which included three wins in 2021.
The charges take effect on March 5, with McNally’s ban believed to be three times as long as the previous record dished out by Irish officials. Stephen Mahon was suspended for four years in June 2021 after he was found guilty of multiple breaches of animal welfare laws.
McNally’s ban has been welcomed by some as a potential sign that horse racing is cleaning up its act in regards to proper policing of rule breaches.
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