Murphy drops licence to fight alcohol issues
THE racing world was rocked last night when troubled three-time champion jockey oisin murphy temporarily relinquished his licence while he receives ‘medical support’ to help with alcohol-related issues. the BHA were informed of murphy’s decision ahead of a disciplinary hearing into two cases when he had higher alcohol levels in his bloodstream than permitted at race meetings this year. the second of those came when murphy, 26, failed a breathalyser test at newmarket on october 8 and was stood down from his rides. Sportsmail subsequently revealed that murphy was involved in a drunken altercation at a pub in newmarket the previous evening. It has now emerged that a urine sample murphy produced at Chester on may 5 also showed a level of alcohol above permitted levels. murphy previously failed a breathalyser test at Salisbury in June 2019. Failing three alcohol tests within 36 months carries a potential 180-day ban from the sport. murphy’s issues with alcohol follow having to serve a three-month suspension last winter after testing positive for cocaine while riding in France in July 2020. Piling even more problems on the jockey are charges for breaching BHA Covid-19 protocols following a trip abroad in September 2020 and misleading the BHA about his location. In a statement, murphy said: ‘In breaking the Covid protocol and attempting to mislead the BHA, I’ve let my governing body down, along with trainers, owners, staff, sponsors and family for which I wish to apologise. ‘In addition to this there have been two racecourse incidents linked to alcohol during 2021. It became obvious to me and everyone else that I needed serious help. ‘I’m deeply embarrassed and regret my actions.’
● TRAINER tom Dascombe has revealed he is in shock after discovering his time in charge of michael owen’s Cheshire stable is over. the former England striker broke the news on twitter yesterday, thanking Dascombe for his work of more than 12 years. But Dascombe said: ‘I am totally shocked. I didn’t see this coming. I have done nothing wrong. I have no plans and don’t know what I am going to do.’