Bradley progressing towards training ranks Former jockey Graham Bradley is planning to press on with his application for a training licence after the reasons behind the not guilty verdict in a recent British Horseracing Authority hearing were published on Tuesday. Bradley and trainer Brendan Powell were cleared of charges alleging Bradley was training horses under Powell's name at a hearing in October. The inquiry looked into whether Powell assisted, encouraged or caused Bradley to train horses to run in races which took place in Britain, despite him not holding a trainer's licence granted by the BHA, and then allowed them to run under his own name. In what was the first case of its kind brought by the BHA, Bradley faced similar charges, in that he was alleged to have trained horses to run without holding a licence, and that he encouraged Powell to act in a manner prejudicial to the integrity, proper conduct or good reputation of racing in Britain. Both were exonerated in what was described by a disciplinary panel of the BHA as a "finely balanced" case, with the decision a "close-run thing". Bradley is still hoping to set up as a trainer in his own right. He said: "I'm just working on my application now and finding out what the next steps are in the process. "We were found not guilty of the charges and I'm still planning to apply for my licence." BHA media manager Robin Mounsey conceded a review of the rules may be necessary to better define the meaning of "training" a horse. He said: "BHA has reviewed the panel's reasons for its decision in this case. "Despite the panel's decision not to find BHA's case proved, its reasons justify BHA's decision to charge both Bradley and Powell, describing the case as 'finely balanced'. "The panel found that Bradley was not operating autonomously as a trainer, despite the fact that Bradley was charging the owners directly for training fees and raceday expenses, taking a split of Powell's prize-money, employing staff to care for the horses, operating with a separate feed and tack room and using a different vet to Powell. "The panel noted that there is no definition within the rules of what constitutes 'training'. "BHA will now consider whether it is necessary to revise the rules of racing to make a clearer distinction between what BHA considers to be an acceptable delegation of training responsibilities and an arrangement too close to an autonomous training operation. "Now that we are in possession of the panel's reasons, we will consider Bradley's licence application. "We note that the panel had significant concerns with Bradley's conduct, which will be considered when determining his suitability to hold a licence."
