For racing followers brought up on a diet of Dickinson domination in the 80s and 90s, Graham Bradley was never far from the headlines, not always for the right reasons. With a cheeky demeanour, infectious grin and style rarely matched in the saddle, he was difficult to miss.

26 years on from that last winning ride at Haydock in November 1999, Bradley succumbed to semantic dementia, a progressive condition, at his home in France this week at the tender age of 65.

Winner of a string of top flight races across 20 years among over 680 winners in total, Bradley was much admired among his fellow professionals in the Weighing Room, readily employed by trainers who respected his racing brain, but the butt of criticism and scrutiny by officials, who saw criminality behind every decision and at one time banned him from racing altogether.

The son of a small-time trainer, Bradley grew up in humble beginnings in Wetherby, so it wasn’t a huge jump in his late teens to work for Arthur Stephenson in Co Durham, grabbing odd rides as an amateur before finding a role at Harewood with Tony Dickinson, shortly before the “Boss” gave way to son Michael.

Yet Harewood was already choc-a-bloc with riding talent: Tommy Carmody, Robert Earnshaw, Kevin Whyte and Chris Pimlott among the senior riders, and other conditionals alongside Bradley. It was on a Dickinson horse that he crafted his first winner at Sedgefield in March 1980.

Thus began a steady stream of winners that peaked in the 1986-7 season with 53 winners from 232 rides.

That success however came about largely through Tommy Carmody relinquishing his role as lead rider at Harewood, and Michael Dickinson’s reliance upon the young riders under his tutelage. He had no reason to regret that decision. It was a time when there was great strength in depth at Harewood, the 1982 Festival securing winners in the kim Muir, Champion Chase and Gold Cup, in which Bradley rode Bregawn into second place behind stablemate Silver Buck, the year he was crowned Champion Conditional.

The following season, Bregawn put Bradley int the spotlight again when winning the Hennessey (now Ladbroke) Trophy at Newbury as a precursor to the Gold Cup, when Bregawn led home the “Famous Five” for Michael Dickinson.it brought him to the attention of Jim Old, with whom he was to strike up a productive relationship and a Champion Hurdle winner.

But 1982 was also a year when Bradley had the first of numerous skirmishes with authority. Naivety led him to place a bet on a runner from another stable at a meeting at Cartmel, which did not go unnoticed and led to a fine and a rap over the knuckles. But sadly thereafter, however small the Cartmel incident, his card was marked. Four years later, he was back in the public eye for the wrong reasons over the Robin Goodfellow affair, a public spat with gambler-trainer Barney Curley, in which Curley reported Bradley to the Jockey Club, and was subsequently disqualified from racing for two years for conduct liable to damage the interests of the sport.

When Michael Dickinson moved to Wiltshire to train for Robert Sangster after just a few short seasons in charge, Monica Dickinson took on the licence at Harewood, but the stable was on the wane, prompting a move to Lambourn, where Bradley began riding for David Murray-Smith, whose Rhyme & Reason won the Irish Grand National in 1985. More southern-based trainers made use of Bradley too including John Edwards, Toby Balding and Jenny Pitman, both of whom delivered big race success with horses like Pearlyman and Stearsby.

Official scrutiny raised its ugly head once again in November 1996 with a horse called Man Mood, owned by Julian Robbins of the Steel Plate & Sections company that sponsored at Cheltneham for over 40 years, and trained by Charlie Brooks. An overnight field of three reduced to two by flagfall as Bradley made all on Man Mood, only to pull him up 6 out. An enquiry on the track and subsequently took evidence of the horse’s wind issues that had made him gurgle during the race, against evidence of some major bets from the ring on the eventual winner. The scrutiny set the tone for subsequent skirmishes with authority.

If Bradley’s flirtation with danger tended to hit the headlines, he retained the confidence throughout of trainers who admired his riding style, finesse and tactical brain. Big winners continued to flow throughout including 7 Festival winners, another Hennessey on Suny Bay in 1987, the horse that was to bring him nearest to Grand National success with a second place in 1998.

That dangerous streak continued even after retirement from the saddle, Bradley mixed up in an enquiry into gambler Brian Wright, and banned from racing for 8 years in 2002 for having disclosed privileged information.

But it was difficult to keep a good man down, and on appeal, he was able to return to the bloodstock arena in 2008 to use his contacts and build an agency business.

It was poor luck that having decided to move permanently to France in 2020, he was diagnosed shortly after.

Jockeys past and present have been quick to add their endorsement of Bradley within the Weighing Room. Generous of spirit, and with ready advice to youngsters making their way, he engendered warm regard from both his contemporaries and subsequent generations of riders.

Rarely has a rider made the headlines more frequently outside the racing pages whilst retaining the affection of the racing public.