ROBBIE DUNNE returns to racing tomorrow ‘raring to go’ after serving a ten-month ban for bullying and harassing Bryony Frost.
Brave Bryony, 27, told Sun Racing of the torment she suffered at the hands of Dunne over a over a seven-month period on and off the track.
Dunne returns to the saddle on Tuesday after serving a ten-month ban for bullying and harassing Frost
Frost was back among the winners at Goodwood on her return from a six-month injury hell
She made her own successful comeback on Sunday after six months out injured when partnering 14-1 Zikany to victory at Goodwood.
But all eyes will be on Dunne tomorrow – and his reception from punters and those working in the sport.
Dunne’s 18-month ban was cut to ten months in March on appeal and he is set to have three rides at Hereford.
He is booked to make his comeback on the Ian Williams-trained 11-2 chance Ernesto in the 2.45 3m1½f Black Mountain Botanicals Handicap Hurdle worth £6,200 to the winner.
He will then race in the 3.55 on 9-2 Molliana and the 4.30 on 25-1 O’Grady’s Boy, with Neil Mulholland training the former and Gary Hanmer the latter.
Dunne – whose behaviour towards Frost was branded ‘disgraceful’ by the appeals panel – is also booked to take the mount of Ballybreeze at Uttoxeter on Friday.
The jockey’s agent Ian Popham told the Racing Post they are of the firm mind that what happened in the past belongs there.
He said: “Robbie is raring to go. He’s really looking forward to getting back and being on the track again.
“He’s been riding out for a lot of different trainers for quite a few days now and has been working hard.
“We see it as what happened has happened. It’s behind him now and he’s got to push on and try his best. Fingers crossed we can get going again.”
Hanmer said: “Robbie can’t wait to get going.
“He’s been on countdown for a while. He seems really hungry for it, his weight is good and I think it’s great to have him back.”
The Dunne and Frost saga shock the sport, sparking criticism of how her complaint was handled.
Frost said she ‘felt like an inconvenience’ making a complaint about Dunne’s behaviour to the Professional Jockeys Association.
Britain’s most successful female jumps jockey told Sun Racing: “They weren’t there for me and their system isn’t good enough.
“I felt like an inconvenience. There was no care or interest from them even when it reached the stage of the hearing.
“They just basically said that time would fix it. They wanted to ignore it until it went away.
“I don’t feel they saw what I was going through as being as serious as it was.”
Dunne, 37, threatened to put Frost ‘through the wing of a fence’ after a race at Southwell in September 2020.
The racing weighing room culture was branded ‘rancid’ by British Horseracing Authority lawyer Louis Weston, who said Dunne used ‘foul, sexually abusive and misogynistic language’ towards Frost.
