RACING:FLAT JOCKEY Danny Grant has had five months of a six-month suspension for a positive cocaine test suspended after a Turf Club inquiry yesterday. It means the Group Two-winning rider can return to action after April 11th.
Grant is just the third jockey in Ireland to test positive for drugs, but the Turf Club accepted the offence was accidental as Grant had taken medication for a long-standing problem with eczema.
“The referrals committee felt he was guilty of a doping offence, but they accepted it was a result of contaminated, legitimate medicines purchased in India and that the breach was accidental,” a Turf Club spokesman said.
Grant regularly rides in India during the winter.
The 31-year-old’s ban runs from yesterday to April 11th. The Turf Club also ordered that Grant must be available for drug testing anytime in the next six months. If he tests positive again, the suspended part of his penalty will start immediately.
Grant was also ordered to pay €1,000 in costs.
Grant is stable jockey to Waterford trainer Pat Flynn, who backed his rider after the Turf Club’s initial inquiry was adjourned last month.
“It is unbelievable the cocktail of drugs he has to take for his skin. Danny is covered from top to toe. The effort he puts into doing his job is unreal. I don’t know how he has stuck the pain,” Flynn said.
After yesterday’s hearing, Grant said: “They have accepted it was accidental because medications in India could be different to here.They were very fair because I didn’t have any experts on my side, just the truth.”
