Graham Bradley Explained

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]

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 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 The charges were filed against him on April 13, 1999 due to the incident in 1996.[15] Two months later this was rescinded by Crown Prosecution Service which withdrew the charges against him since the original charge was subject to review.[16] The rules he broke were: 204 (iv), 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]

Notes and References

  1. News: 2002-12-02. Eight year ban for Bradley. en-GB. 2021-10-28.
  2. Web site: Graham Bradley Horse Records Racing Post. 2021-10-28. www.racingpost.com.
  3. Web site: 2019-10-21. Cheltenham Gold Cup 1983 Gold Cup. 2021-10-28. en-US.
  4. Web site: Old pays tribute to 'street-fighting' Champion Hurdle winner Collier Bay Horse Racing News Racing Post. 2021-10-28. www.racingpost.com.
  5. News: Suny Bay enjoys spectacular victory. 2021-10-28. The Irish Times. en.
  6. Web site: 2015-09-03. Bradley drops plan to become trainer. 2021-10-28. BBC Sport. en-GB.
  7. Web site: Graham Bradley withdraws application for training licence. 2021-10-28. Sky Sports. en.
  8. Web site: 2002-01-21. Horseracing: Festival next stop for Seebald. 2021-10-28. Irish Examiner. en.
  9. Web site: 2010-09-10. Claims Five: Why Graham Bradley is a legend. 2021-10-28. the Guardian. en.
  10. Web site: Full Result 1.15 Market Rasen 7 January 1987 Racing Post. 2021-10-28. www.racingpost.com.
  11. Web site: Bradley faces long list of charges today; Bradley inquiry may be three-day epic. - Free Online Library. 2021-10-28. www.thefreelibrary.com.
  12. Book: Horse Racing's Strangest Tales. 9781911042839. 16 February 2017. Portico.
  13. Web site: BBC News Jockey Club. 2021-10-28. news.bbc.co.uk.
  14. Web site: 2002-11-30. Graham Bradley banned for eight years. 2021-10-28. the Guardian. en.
  15. Web site: Jockey in court on race fix claim.
  16. Web site: Jockey Club Remove Restrictions on Graham Bradley. 2021-10-28. The British Horseracing Authority. en-GB.
  17. Web site: Graham Bradley Appeal Board Result. 2021-10-28. The British Horseracing Authority. en-GB.
  18. Book: Modern Sports Law: A Textbook. 9781847317377. 26 October 2010. Bloomsbury.
  19. Web site: Graham Bradley withdraws application for training licence. 2021-10-28. Sky Sports. en.
  20. Web site: 2019-06-26. Talking Horses: Graham Bradley back in the game as an owner in Ireland. 2021-10-28. the Guardian. en.
  21. Web site: Marchons Ensemble Horse Profile Sky Sports Horse Racing. 2021-10-28. Sky Sports. en.
  22. News: Lee. Alan. Graham Bradley in trouble for 'training' Brendan Powell horses. The Times. en. 2021-10-28. 0140-0460.
  23. Web site: Graham Bradley THE WAYWARD LAD First Edition Signed . https://web.archive.org/web/20211028074356/https://books-and-records.com/graham-bradley-the-wayward-lad-first-edition-signed-3773-p.asp . 2021-10-28 . 2021-10-28 . books-and-records.com.

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