MURPHY’S VOW
CHAMPION JOCKEY OPENS UP ON HIS SHOCK COCAINE BAN CHAMPION jockey Oisin Murphy has vowed to make up for his “massive error” after testing positive for cocaine.
The rider’s three- month ban will kick in on December 11.
He insisted in a BBC interview that he had not taken the drug but admitted he “saw cocaine present” the night before his positive test in July.
He testified he’d had sex with a woman on the eve of racing and later discovered she was a cocaine user. France Galop accepted his explanation that he did not take the drug.
Murphy said he had to live with the consequences of not removing himself from the situation immediately.
“I’ve never taken cocaine,” said Murphy. “I made a massive error and I’m missing out on plenty. I should be in Japan this time of the year. I’m going to miss the big races in Saudi Arabia and Super Saturday in Dubai.
“But I need to put things right and I need to use my time over the next three months to do the right thing and take the right step. This is going to go down on my CV – nobody is going to forget about this overnight.
“I’ve projected myself as a good ambassador for the sport, but clearly a good ambassador for the sport doesn’t fail a drug test, no matter how minimal that quantity is.”
Murphy tested positive for cocaine at Chantilly on July 19 where he rode The Lir Jet for his retainer Sheikh Fahad.
Murphy, crowned champion jockey for the second successive time last month, enjoyed a stellar 2020 season which included riding Kameko to success in the 2,000 Guineas.
He plans to be involved in charity work during his time out of the saddle. ALTIOR will face five rivals in tomorrow’s Betfair Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown, the race he won in 2018 for trainer Nicky Henderson.
Paul Nicholls, who has won the race 10 times, will be represented by Politologue and Greaneteen.
Rouge Vif, Brewin’upastorm and Castlegrace Paddy make up the field.