The neurologist said falls were a 'contributing factor' to Graham's dementia

'HEARTBREAKING' DIAGNOSIS FOR FLAWED GENIUS BRAD WHO CAPTURED IRISH GRAND NATIONAL 40 YEARS AGO

- Brian FLANAGAN

Bradley riding dozens of winners in Ireland for trainers like Aidan O'Brien, Michael Hourigan and Pat Flynn, for whom he partnered French Ballerina to win the 1998 Sun Alliance Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Bradley's name was also etched in racing history when he rode Bregawn to win the 1983 Gold Cup at Cheltenham, the first of the famous five of Michael Dickinson-trained horses to fill the first five places in one of racing's greatest ever feats.

But after retirement in 1999, he was warned off for eight years (reduced to five on appeal) after admitting selling inside information to Irish-born drugs baron Brian Wright, who was handed a 30-year jail sentence in 2007 but has since been released.

His autobiography published in 2000, and titled The Wayward Lad after the talented chaser of the 1980s he regularly partnered, detailed his colourful life and is still considered one of the best and most honest racing books ever written. But it also landed him in trouble.

Bradley was in his prime at a time in the 80s and 90s when the health and safety requirements in racing weren't as stringent as now and wife Amanda (left) has been told that the toll of several falls over the years has been a "contributing factor" to his condition which was first diagnosed three years ago.

"I would hear him talking about horses on the phone and even I knew it wasn't sounding right even though I'm not a horsey person at all. He was getting jumbled up.