'I'm back in recovery,' says Ray Dawson after gin and cocaine binge leads to six-month ban

Ray Dawson has told a disciplinary panel of how the break-up of a relationship led to him returning to alcohol for the first time in years, resulting in a cocaine binge on the night before he rode in five races at Bath. A sample taken from him at the course tested positive for the drug and the jockey's licence will now be withdrawn for six months.

The 30-year-old has often spoken of his struggles with alcohol and has managed to remain abstinent for most of the past five years but described how he relapsed in August for just the second time. It stemmed, he said, from a break-up with the mother of his child at the end of last year, when the mother and child moved to a place more than two hours' drive from his home.

Dawson said he had tried to deal with the fallout on his own. "It caused all kinds of mental problems that I didn't deal with at all well," he explained, adding that one consequence was he gradually got out of the habit of attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings or engaging with the recovery programme he had been pursuing.

That led to the night of August 18, when he walked to a nearby pub and started drinking gin and lemonade. By his recollection, he had four to six drinks before falling into conversation with a stranger who offered him cocaine. 

Dawson estimated he took eight or nine lines of the drug. "How big those lines were, I don't quite know."

When he was tested at Bath the following night, Dawson realised what was likely to happen. He contacted the BHA's senior medical officer the next week to admit his cocaine use and has not ridden since.

The rider's solicitor Harry Stewart-Moore told the panel: "He does not have a cocaine problem, he has an alcohol problem, which leads to the occasional misguided use of cocaine.

Solicitor Harry Stewart-Moore: "Ray Dawson does not have a cocaine problem, he has an alcohol problem"

"In my submission, Mr Dawson has demonstrated that he has taken the necessary steps to mitigate the risk of another relapse. He is again in regular attendance at AA meetings and in daily contact with his AA sponsor. He has been open and honest regarding the cause of the positive test. He has not sought to excuse his use of cocaine on the evening of August 18 and has accepted, in fact, that he took really quite a lot of the drug. 

"He has not given a sob story regarding the reasons behind his decision to go looking for alcohol that evening. He does not say that the man who gave him the cocaine did anything other than offer it to him. He did not need to be persuaded or cajoled but accepts that he said yes more or less immediately." 

In imposing the usual six-month suspension for a first breach of these rules, panel chairman Tim Grey underlined the gravity of Dawson's behaviour. "Cocaine is extremely dangerous," he said. "It's illegal for good reason. 

"The risk you pose to your fellow jockeys, to those on the course and to the public at large when you use drugs is both real and serious. That is not to ignore the risk to the reputation of the sport.

"Accepting drugs from an unknown man in a pub is reckless in the extreme and puts you in real peril. You can have had no idea precisely what you were ingesting.

"In the future you will, we sincerely hope, have a successful career in racing. There may be times when continued abstinence is challenging. When that happens, think about this hearing and what you would be throwing away. I hope this will provide you with an additional incentive to find the strength to continue in abstinence."

A statement issued on Dawson's behalf said: "Ray would like to thank the BHA and the disciplinary panel for the way in which this matter has been handled. He looks forward to returning to race-riding in the spring, subject to having established to the BHA's satisfaction that his recovery remains on track."

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