Six-month ban for jockey who tested positive for cocaine on day he rode Fakenham winner

Dylan Whelan's recent absence from the track was explained on Monday when a disciplinary panel heard that he had tested positive for cocaine in May. The 24-year-old jockey has been given a six-month suspension, as is usual for first-time offenders, and could soon be back in action, as the ban is backdated to the start of his interim suspension on May 16.

The test was taken at Fakenham, on a day when Whelan scored aboard the 3-1 shot Trincomalee in a staying handicap chase. Joseph Sinclair, presenting the BHA's case to the panel, said: "He admitted taking cocaine three to four days before the test. 

"He'd taken cocaine, in his words, perhaps once in a blue moon. It had been something he'd done in the past.

"In terms of the why, he pointed to moving from home at a young age, the pressures on him, not seeing his family, pressures from work, perhaps leading him to what he did."

Rory Mac Neice, appearing on Whelan's behalf, said: "Being notified of this positive test was a very significant event for him. It forced him to take responsibility for and take stock of his position.

Dylan Whelan was riding at Fakenham when a urine test was taken which proved positive for cocaine.Credit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

"He had the insight to understand and to identify the need to remove himself from the source of pressure he was feeling, which was racing, in order to allow himself the space and time to address the underlying issue leading to this breach, which he identifies as his use of alcohol as a crutch.

"At home, he had the support particularly of his grandparents, with whom he has a close relationship, to be able to confront those issues. He has benefited from that support. That has allowed him to reset his relationship with alcohol, which now plays a much more peripheral part in his life."

Whelan, whose eight winners last season included four for Ben Pauling, intends to reapply for his licence "sooner rather than later" but accepts there will be conditions attached related to testing, including out of competition testing.

Philippa Charles, chair of the panel, told the jockey: "Well done for working on it and getting yourself back into a good frame of mind."

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