TOP JOCKEY HIT WITH DRUG BAN

Dual champion jockey Oisin Murphy, pictured, has been suspended for three months by France Galop following a positive test for cocaine. The penalty comes after the French governing body took into account his defence that he hadn't knowingly come into contact with the drug. Irishman Murphy, 25, denied any wrongdoing, saying the positive result was due to “environmental contamination” after he had sex the night before the

July 19 test with a woman who used cocaine. “I am pleased the commissioners accepted the evidence presented and am hugely relieved to have been cleared of taking cocaine,” Murphy said in a statement. Murphy, who was British Champion Jockey in 2019 and 2020, will serve his suspension from Dec. 11 to March 11. The BBC reported that the British Horseracing Authority has said it will reciprocate the ban.