Ban was massively excessive - Bradley
In a statement to PA Sport through his solicitors Chalk Smith Brooks, Bradley denies selling information to alleged drugs dealer Brian Wright, who is still on the run.
He believes he has been made ‘‘a scapegoat’’ because of the recent bad publicity racing has received and that the penalty handed to him is ‘‘massively excessive’’.
The former leading jump jockey was warned off after he was found in breach of a series of the Rules of Racing at a three-day disciplinary hearing last week.
However he is to appeal against the decision. The ban would mean that Bradley, who retired from race riding in 1999, would not be able to continue to earn his living as a bloodstock agent as he has been declared a disqualified person.
Bradley, 42, was given the ban after being convicted of a number of charges. These included the passing of privileged information in return for monetary consideration.
Bradley’s statement said: ‘‘There is no doubt in my mind that the Jockey Club were under extreme pressure to find me in breach of the Rules and to punish me severely as a result of the negative publicity they were experiencing following Kenyon Confronts, Panorama, and all the recent drugs trials.
‘‘Because of this my legal team urged the Jockey Club on a number of occasions to refer the case to an independent body known as the Sports Dispute Resolution Panel. The Jockey Club continually refused to do so and I feel that I have been made a scapegoat, and thus the Jockey Club imposed a severe and unfair penalty on me to counter the criticism that they lacked the backbone to deal with problems in racing.
‘‘I have been very, very disappointed with a number of comments that have been made since last Friday.
‘‘A number of people have talked about my being involved in corruption and betraying racing. That is absolute rubbish.
‘‘The reality of the situation is that the Jockey Club came to the conclusion that I had a punter in Brian Wright. This is simply not true. I did not sell Brian Wright information. All I did was give him information about his own horse. The only evidence that the Jockey Club had on this was my own very general testimony, which I explained. They had no independent evidence to gainsay or contradict the explanation that I gave. What is more, I never had any reason to believe that Brian Wright was ever involved in any form of criminal activity.
‘‘I have not been found guilty of race fixing. I have not been found guilty of doping. I have not been found guilty of any form of corruption and the penalty that the Jockey Club have imposed upon me is massively excessive. I hear words like ‘Bradley has betrayed Racing’. That is really upsetting, never mind untrue.”
