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.

Career

Throughout his career, Bradley had many horseracing wins including: riding

Bregawn Bregawn (foaled 1974) was an Irish-bred racehorse who developed into a top class steeplechaser. He is best known for winning the 1983 running of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, when his trainer Michael Dickinson trained the first five runners home. ...

– Michael Dickinson’s

Cheltenham Gold Cup The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt horse race run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse in England, over a distance of about 3 miles 2½ furlongs ( ...

(1983) winner, the

Champion Hurdle The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run on the Old Course at Cheltenham over a ...

on Collier Bay (1996) and the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap ...

Hennessy Gold Cup /Ladbrokes Trophy The Coral Gold Cup is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run ...

(1997). Following his ban from the Club, Bradley set out to become a horseracing trainer, but he abandoned this plan in 2015.

Winning horses

Since his retirement in 1999 Bradley has purchased a few champion horses. Seebald won seven races before finishing second in the Irish Independent Arkle Challenge Trophy at the

Cheltenham Festival The Cheltenham Festival is a horse racing-based meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar in the United Kingdom, with race prize money second only to the Grand National. The four-day festival takes place annually in March at Cheltenham Rac ...

in 2002.

Controversy

Bradley has received various punishments over the years including: # 1982: withdrawal of license for two months due to bet placement at

Cartmel Cartmel is a village in Cumbria, England, northwest of Grange-over-Sands close to the River Eea. The village takes its name from the Cartmel Peninsula, and was historically known as Kirkby in Cartmel. The village is the location of the 12th- ...

, # 1987: banned for five months under the "non-triers" rule after a race at

Market Rasen Market Rasen ( ) is a town and civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The River Rase runs through it east to west, approximately north-east from Lincoln, east from Gainsborough, 14 miles (23 km) west of Louth ...

, # 1987: fined £2,500 for trying to end the race at the Cheltenham Gold Cup, anticipating unfavorable conditions for Forgive 'N' Forget, # 1988: heavily fined alongside Geoff Harker due to missing both a fence and an entire circuit at the Sedgefield races # 1996: pulled up Man Mood, the odds-on favourite, in a race at

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

, # 1999: Jockey Club licence suspension and racehorse access restricted following the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

’s charge against him. The charges were filed against him on April 13, 1999 due to the incident in 1996. Two months later this was rescinded by

Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...

which withdrew the charges against him since the original charge was subject to review. The rules he broke were: 204 (iv), Rule 62(ii)(c), Rule 220(vii)(b), Rule 220(viii) Rule 220(iii) and Rule 140. 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. In 2014, Bradley was cleared of charges alleging he was training horses under the name of Brendan Powell. In 2019, Irish authorities allowed Bradley to register as a racehorse owner. Marchons Ensemble came second in his name. Bradley has been referred to as “one of racing’s most controversial characters".

Publications

''The Wayward Lad'' was a Ghost-written autobiography on him by Steve Taylor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Graham British jockeys British racehorse owners and breeders Living people Year of birth missing (living people)