Coach Ronan McNally has been disqualified for 12 years from racing in Ireland, charged €50,000 and ordered to return more than €13,000 in prize money as the Irish Horse Racing Administration’s referral committee announced the sanctions after finding him guilty of multiple crimes. integrity violation in December.
McNally was also found guilty of conspiring with fellow coach David Dunne to conceal his ownership of Full Noise and All Class, and under rules that included scandalous racing, Dunne was suspended. only a two-year license, with the last 18 months suspended for two years. He was fined €5,000 and also had to forfeit the prize money allegedly won by illegal means. In Dunne’s case, that included a total of 36 races where All Class, Full Noise and Petrol Head were in his name while McNally’s ownership of the horses was concealed.
Under rule 212, which includes improving form, Dreal Deal was dropped from his two wins for McNally at Limerick and Navan in the fall of 2020. Jam Man was dropped from runner-up at Limerick by Rule 275, regarding horses that are the subject of fraud, takes the prize money that McNally must pay back €13,400. The 36 races involved for the remaining three include three wins in 2021 for All Class and one for Full Noise, with the prize money that Dunne has to recover close to €27,000.
“The Committee takes the findings against Mr McNally very seriously,” the report states. “His offenses are aimed at integrity and the goal of having a level playing field for all racers. They also involve deceiving the public, especially the betting public. .”
Following a hearing in October, McNally was found by the panel to have caused “serious damage to the interests of horse racing in Ireland” as 10 of 11 broad-based charges against him were upheld, including the use of the racecourse as a training ground. by running horses that are not sufficiently learned to hit a handicap that does not reflect their ability. The findings were published in December and a hearing on the sanctions took place on January 13.
McNally was deemed to have achieved “an improved model of equine form on a level previously unfamiliar to experienced and long-serving disability officials” and was found to have conspired with Ciaran Fennessy , a point-by-point processor based in County Cork by pass on inside information for betting purposes.
Under the rules regarding racing to fame, Fennessy was also declared ineligible and had his license suspended for three years, with the last two being suspended for a period of five years. The recommendation panel, chaired by Justice Brian McGovern and noting that Fennessy “dropped out of school at a young age and was unqualified to do any other job than horse-related work”, fined him. €5,000 after he was found to be in breach of three charges including engaging in conduct that is prejudicial to the integrity and good reputation of the sport.
Disqualification will disqualify Fennessy and McNally from any facility, such as a racecourse, licensed by the IHRB and prevent them from working for any trainer. It was a significant punishment for Fennessy, who depended on the horse trade, and would almost certainly mark the end of McNally’s coaching career.
The improvement of the Dreal Deal’s appearance was the subject of intense scrutiny during the investigation, and it was determined that McNally had passed on to Fennessy “information about the Dreal Deal’s health and condition to enable those Others profit from betting on horses with a betting organization.”
David Dunn International Irish race Purebred racing Ronan McNally The Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Council
