'The whole thing's a joke': McNally hits out over reaction to Dreal Deal win

Ronan McNally has said the reaction to Dreal Deal's remarkable victory in a handicap hurdle at Navan on Saturday has left him disillusioned with the game and feeling as if he has been treated like a scapegoat.

Dreal Deal was backed from 20-1 on Friday night into 6-4 favourite at the off, but McNally is adamant the biggest price he backed the horse at was 9-4. McNally added that the race at Navan was "abysmal" and argued gambles like Dreal Deal are being carried out every day of the week with nothing done about them.

Dreal Deal had form figures of 000088 heading to Navan but the five-year-old had six and a half lengths to spare from Myladyrose, despite almost losing rider Eoin O'Brien at the first hurdle.

The stewards at Navan have passed on the matter to the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board referrals committee for further investigation.

Dreal Deal was hit with a 19lb hike in the ratings for his six-and-a-half-length win, but that does not bother the trainer as much as the reaction by the authorities and on social media.

McNally said: "I'm totally disillusioned with the whole thing. I only train horses for fun. I'm in the kitchen business and I couldn't even go to work today. I was supposed to run a horse at Listowel on Wednesday, but I'm not going to bother now. The whole thing is a joke.

Dreal Deal (centre) finishes second in a maiden point at Ballindenisk last yearCredit: Healy Racing

"I've been made a scapegoat. It's one rule for the bigger guys and one rule for the small ones. There are gambles landed every day of the week that nothing is done about, yet they tackle a lad who is training six of his own horses."

He added: "I thought I had backed the horse at 3-1 but when I looked at my account, the biggest price I had backed him at was 9-4. I backed him again then at 6-4.

"I was half-expecting him to win as he was up in trip, on good ground and my horses had come back into form, but I'd have been thrilled had he finished in the first four. That way I at least would have known I had a horse back and I wasn't sold a dud.

"The horse came from Cork with a big reputation and was stepping up in trip on a galloping track on good ground so I'd imagine some people were putting two and two together and backed him. But, it would have taken very little money for him to have gone from 20-1 into 7-1 on Friday night."

McNally said he paid €50,000 for Dreal Deal and the most he had ever spent on a horse before that was €15,000.

The trainer said: "It was an abysmal race, let's be honest about it. If you go back through my horse's form, he was second in a four-year-old maiden point at Ballindenisk. If he had won that he would have been sold for about €150,000 and he would have won that race had he jumped the last better.

“I didn’t have a winner from November to July. We had aspergillus in the hay, that we didn’t know about, and that meant I had a whole yard of sick horses. They are only coming back into form now. The Trigger won five in a row since July. I knew the horses were healthy again and working better at home.

"I have not got one bit of enjoyment out of Dreal Deal winning. He's gone up 19lb now but that is not even the most frustrating part. The reaction to the whole thing has left me disillusioned with the game."

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