Ronan McNally initiates High Court proceedings against the IHRB over 12-year disqualification

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) has been notified that trainer Ronan McNally, who was banned from racing for 12 years for integrity breaches, has initiated High Court proceedings against the regulator.

McNally was hit with the longest disqualification handed out to an Irish licence-holder in January 2023 after he was found guilty of conspiring to conceal ownership of Full Noise and All Class when they were trained by David Dunne. It was found that the horses were owned by McNally when landing gambles under Dunne's name. 

As well as having to pay costs of €50,000, McNally was ordered to return more than €13,000 in prize-money as Dreal Deal was disqualified from two of his wins under the trainer's name, while The Jam Man also had to forfeit a runner-up finish.

McNally, who also runs a kitchen fitting business, was originally found guilty of ten of the 11 charges brought against him with the breaches described as "very serious" by an IHRB referrals panel, who said: "His offences strike at the integrity and the objective of having a level playing field for all who send horses out to race. They also involved a deception of the public, especially the betting public."

The findings of the committee included using the racecourse as a training ground by running horses insufficiently schooled in order to obtain handicap marks not reflective of their ability, and engaging in fraudulent practice by passing on inside information for betting purposes to the point-to-point handler Ciaran Fennessy.

The IHRB appeals body dismissed the trainer's appeal against the severity of the ban in June 2023, but suspended the final four years of the disqualification.

However, the saga is set to rumble on as McNally has initiated proceedings in relation to the ban with plenary summons filed this month.

An IHRB spokesperson said it had "received correspondence on Monday morning" relating to the proceedings and "it is currently being examined by our legal team".

Another horse involved in the IHRB's case against McNally was Petrol Head, who the trainer was found to have owned when running for Dunne in the early part of his career. 

Petrol Head was moved to Katy Brown and was the subject of a gamble on the morning of the Galway Hurdle in August, but was withdrawn on the day by order of the IHRB after it emerged he had tested positive for the prohibited substance clenbuterol when winning a race that had guaranteed his place in the handicap hurdle the previous month.

An investigation revealed that the positive test originated from when the horse was administered Ventipulmin when in the care of his owners earlier in the year.

Read these next:

Ronan McNally hit with massive 12-year disqualification from Irish racing 

Ronan McNally disqualification appeal dismissed but length dropped to eight years 

Investigation reveals source of banned substance behind controversial withdrawal of Galway Hurdle favourite 

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