'Aggrieved' Sean Levey hopes lessons will be learned from false saliva positive

Sean Levey says he feels aggrieved at missing eight days of racing, including the final of the Racing League, following the news that he has been reinstated as medically eligible to ride after a negative urine test.

The Classic-winning jockey was stood down by stewards at Sandown last Wednesday after an instant saliva test produced a positive result for amphetamine, a prohibited substance.

In a statement released by Levey on Wednesday, the jockey made clear he was convinced of his own innocence and immediately requested a urine test, which was carried out within 24 hours.

And in a later interview on Sky Sports he expressed frustration at the amount of time it took to process the urine sample, and the unwillingness of officials at Sandown to countenance a second saliva test.

Levey had been on course to land the £20,000 first prize as the Racing League's leading jockey but was forced to miss the final meeting at Newcastle, where Saffie Osborne overhauled him after riding an improbable 6,539-1 treble.

The rider is set to return to action on Friday at Haydock with five rides. In the statement, he said: "Although I am happy to be back riding later this week, it's hard not to feel aggrieved at what has happened to me the last few days.

"Some might say I've been unlucky with the false positive happening just before the Racing League final, but I sincerely hope that there are lessons to be learned from this and that similar things don't happen to jockeys in the future."

The Professional Jockeys Association hailed the introduction of instant saliva testing in May 2021 as a major deterrent for any rider to go to the races having consumed a prohibited substance.

The BHA did not comment on the case other than to confirm Levey was cleared to ride again on Tuesday, meaning his agent Sash Righton was able to start booking rides from Friday onwards.

The statement referred to Levey's desire for a full investigation into what went wrong with the initial test.

Levey later told Sky: "I did make the case that I would like to get an opportunity to prove myself innocent by doing any other test and it just wasn’t given to me.

"Newcastle was an evening meeting and if I was able to get a result within 12 hours I would have been able to go and ride that day. It's hard to look at that situation.

"The best way of saying it is it most definitely could have been dealt with a lot better."

Read more . . .

Sean Levey cleared to resume riding after second test proves negative

Racing League star Sean Levey stood down from finale rides on medical grounds

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