Graham Bradley

Shadow Leader said:
Oh, so that's alright then. It's fine to wreck everything as his main sin is that he's well known, unlike those unheard of ones found guilty for similar or worse, like Francome or Karl Burke - who, shock-horror!! were also part of the 'Legends' race at Donny. To think that I've been ridiculed for sticking up for Brad on the grounds that I actually know and like the guy, and he is well known and well liked in the circles within which I move, then comments like that are rolled out! :rolleyes:

Oh, and it appears that I am a major sinner too, as I am involved in the evil, evil working echelons of racing.....
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Think you've ignored several entire posts by EC1 to pick on that point Shadz!

I admit that most people I know find Graham Bradley a charming guy, funny, self deprecating and good company. I don't doubt for a second that I would find him exactly the same. Hell, I'm already developing a man-crush. But it's been pointed out that how nice a bloke he is isn't relevant to how he should have been treated. He wasn't done for easing up in a finish, he brought the sport into serious disrepute and then boasted about it openly.

The Greg Wood piece reminds us that he wasn't simply another jockey who had his punters, but that he was instrumental in the building up of Brian Wright's empire (do we need a reminder of exactly how evil Brian Wright is?). To ignore that is wrong. If everybody connected to Brad had the attitude that he'd done a terrible thing out of naievete, or malice, and shunned him through the period of his punishment, then they'd be entitled to argue that he'd done his time and should be allowed back. Unfortunately, almost everyone within his circle has behaved as if any punishment was a disgrace, and he's been treated like a folk hero by many. He wasn't. He was a greedy man who lined his pockets out of the proceeds of an iniquitous business empire, which left the lives of many people in ruins.

Of course he's a man who has done his time and learned his lessons now. Perhaps someone who's read his book can reprint one of the paragraphs where he tells how he spent much of his time working with drug-addicted teenagers and how the realisation that he was in some small way responsible for their misery saw him racked by guilt and remorse. I haven't read it, but I'm sure there must be several passages like that in there.
 
What Rory says!

Of course GB isn't alone in this - many others have - and are - using racing to further illegal activities and racing is no different to any other activity. If illegalities go on, are discovered and the proponents are found culpable, then while in private they an be treated however others deem fit, it doesn't mean that the public face of racing should follow suit.
 
Oh, so that's alright then? That he was made an example of and slapped with a massive warning off? It's alright that others have arguably committed larger crimes within racing yet get let off with a slap on the wrist? It's a shame that Karl Burke didn't train the winner of the race then, isn't it? Oh, hang on, he did! I haven't heard a murmur about that from anyone.

Still, we'll all have to agree to disagree on this one - no-one is going to change my opinions on the matter, nor I'm sure, the opinions of the majority of the NH world who have supported Brad and will do for a while yet. They're the ones that matter, after all.
 
Shadow Leader said:
It's alright that others have arguably committed larger crimes within racing yet get let off with a slap on the wrist?
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Lord God where has anyone said that?!

Two crimes committed by Criminal A & Criminal B. A gets away but B gets caught - by your logic you would let B off because A gets away! Punish B while acknowledging the wish for A to get caught!

I think this is going around in circles.....good to know though if your a friend of SL and a nice guy you can do whatever you want!

As for Karl Burke - there was a thread slating him on here at the time so go look it up.
 
Indeed, I met Karl Burke last month and he's a very charming and nice bloke and easy to talk to. I'm sure he's well liked in Middleham but it doesn't excuse what he did and it's a joke that trainers can still train under other names (something I banged on about for a long time on the Wigham thread).
 
Bar the Bull said:
But is that not the problem? The culture that "the majority of the NH world have supported Brad and will do for a while yet".
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Tells you all you need to know about the NH world.

Edit: Sections of the flat world are just as bad though with their crooks.
 
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Maybe if more people 'in racing' actually provided enough information which would get decent convictions, we maybe would see everyone being treated the same. It's easier to slate off the various authorities as not being seen to do their jobs, rather than to do something about it yourself. However, as we all are aware, racing is a small world and putting your head above the parapet can have dire consequences commercially.

I'm not saying that those in charge always get it right - of course they don't - but there is an element of sometimes not having enough evidence to make a heavy sentence enforceable, no ?
 
Oh, c'mon, does anyone really believe it is Brad?? As an aside on a related subject, McCririck was apparently giving out in the press room at Newbury today as someone has been impersonating him on Twitter. Facebook too, likely as not.
 
Shadow Leader said:
Oh, c'mon, does anyone really believe it is Brad?? As an aside on a related subject, McCririck was apparently giving out in the press room at Newbury today as someone has been impersonating him on Twitter. Facebook too, likely as not.
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yep - i believe its "Brad"

why would anyone want to impersonate him?
 
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