YOUNG jockey Dylan Whelan was slapped with a six-month suspension on Monday when a disciplinary panel heard he tested positive for cocaine on May 7.
Whelan, 24, had ridden 3-1 shot Trincomalee to victory at Fakenham in a handicap chase the day the test was taken.
He had two more rides last season before his interim suspension kicked in on May 16 and he has not been on the track since.
His six-month suspension – the usual for first time cocaine offenders – has now almost been served.
Joseph Sinclair, who was presenting the BHA’s case to the panel, said: “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.”
Barrister and former National Hunt jockey Rory Mac Neice, who was appearing on behalf of Whelan, 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.
“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, who rode eight winners last season, is keen to reapply for his license “sooner rather than later.”
