Ronan McNally, who was disqualified from Irish racing for 12 years last month, was back among the winners at Dundalk last week and he reiterated his confidence in appealing the record breaking sentence.

McNally’s ban also came with an order to pay €50,000 in legal costs and repay €13,000 in prize money. He submitted his appeal earlier this month and he is free to run his horses until his appeal is heard, which could take a number of weeks considering the complexities of the case and the large legal teams needed for both sides.

McNally, who trains in Co Armagh, was charged with a number of integrity breaches, mostly notably concerning his well known horses The Jam Man and Dreal Deal, who were found to have been kept from running to their merits before executing significant gambles.

Last Wednesday he sent out Vee Dancer to win a two-mile handicap at Dundalk and spoke publicly about the case for the first time on Racing TV.

Unheard of

“The ban is being appealed against, it’s totally unheard of to get warned off for 12 years,” he said. “It’s the worst penalty in Irish racing, so I can’t see how I am the worst person to ever come into Irish racing.

“I am very confident this will be turned around, as I can’t see how it can be upheld. I pray common sense prevails and we get a bit of justice.”

Under a disqualification McNally can’t step foot onto a racecourse. In the same interview he revealed that all of his horses are for sale and also spoke of his son Kian, already well known under his nickname ‘Tubs’ and an up-and-coming pony racing rider.

“Tubs will probably have his licence to go riding in four years. I’ve nurtured him up since he was one or two years of age, we go everywhere together.

"The thought of not being able to go on to the racecourse to saddle up his first horse or to be there to watch him coming in. It’s not the end of a career, it’s the end of a life for me.”