‘I made a very bad mistake’
LOCAL jockey Ger Fox has told the Drogheda Independent he made a ‘very bad mistake’ after being banned from racing for using cocaine.
It emerged last Thursday that Fox, along with fellow jockeys Danny Benson and Roger Quinlan, had all tested positive for the banned stimulant following tests at a race meeting in Galway on October 10th. and they were initially handed two-year bans by the Turf Club referrals committee.
However, in the case of Curraha native Fox, the 2016 Irish Grand National winner, he will have his suspension reviewed after five and a half months as long as he ‘submits to a random testing programme’ and ‘continues to have the support of his employer, Gavin Cromwell’.
That means the 28-year-old could be back in the saddle by next May and Fox has vowed to make a comeback and show his critics that he can have a successful career in the sport.
Asked whether he had anything to say about last week’s shocking news, Fox responded: ‘I made a very bad mistake and there’s no excuse for what I did. I was in a low place and ended up doing something stupid, something I shouldn’t have done.
‘I let everyone down, I take responsibility for what I did and I feel unbelievable pressure over what I did.
‘But I want to put this all behind me and come back stronger . I f****d up and it’s on my own head.’
Asked why he had taken cocaine, Fox said he felt it was the answer when times got tough in the months after that famous win on Rogue Angel at Fairyhouse in the spring of last year.
‘It was nothing to do with [boosting] performance,’ he responded. ‘I was struggling for a while. I won the National and was doing great, but I had a bit of a lull then and felt I wasn’t good enough to ride for good trainers.’
Fox said he was unhappy about some of the extensive media coverage following last week’s revelations and welcomed the opportunity to have his say.
‘It got a lot more publicity than I thought it would and it’s been very embarrassing.
‘A couple of people would have been against me, but a lot of people have been a great support. My village and my family have been an unbelievable support.’
Crucially, his employer, trainer Gavin Cromwell - Fox is assistant trainer and also rides many of his horses - appears to be standing by him also, and that paves the way for Fox to make a return to the sport he loves in May 2018.
Cromwell gave evidence on his behalf at
the hearing and was quoted as saying: ‘I don’t condone what he has done, but hopefully he will learn from it.
‘I was very surprised – unbelievably surprised – in the first instance, so I am taking it was a one-off.
‘Ger is a good fella and a good worker, and is a great help to me here in the yard, so hopefully he is going to learn from this. He is eager to knuckle down and get back.’
Asked about Cromwell, Fox added:
‘I felt I let him down big time. He had nothing to do with it and
I broke down crying when I told him. ‘He put his arm around me and said: ‘Work through it. You are a great lad and I will support you all the way. It’s not ideal what happened, but everyone makes mistakes. You didn’t go out drink-driving and ill anyone’.
‘That meant the world to me and it’s unbelievable what he has done for me.
‘I am going to learn from what I did and go out and win something important to prove everyone wrong.’
Of the other jockeys, Quinlan had 21 months of his ban suspended as long as he ‘does not breach the same rule again during the period of suspension’.
Benson’s suspension will be assessed in six months if he ‘positively engages’ in a programme of rehabilitation.
In total, eight jockeys were tested after a meeting at Galway in October, with Fox, Quinlan and Benson returning positive urine samples. The Turf Club has vowed to stamp out drug abuse among jockeys by increasing the starting penalty to four years in future.
“‘We can’t have another night like tonight where we had to deal with the referral of three riders, out of the eight riders that were randomly tested, who tested positive for banned substances on the same day,’ said the referrals committee.