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RACING POST THURSDAY DECEMBER 6th 2012
WEEK MONDAY DECEMBER 3rd to SUNDAY DECEMBER 9th.
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FRANKIE
DETTORI: hit with six-month suspension following positive drugs test
Andrew
Scutts & Jon Lees 6:37PM 5 DEC 2012
Dettori backed to bounce back from drugs test ban
The
suspension, confirmed by France Galop on Wednesday morning, and which Dettori
will not contest, amounts to an effective worldwide ban as racing
jurisdictions, including the BHA, will accept the French authority's request to
reciprocate it.
Bookmakers,
always on the hunt for innovative markets, set about pricing Dettori 2013 specials,
and Paddy Power go just evens about Dettori adding to his haul of 88 Group 1
winners in Britain and Ireland
Dettori
will be able to ride again on May 20, subject to passing a medical, and the
trainer who first took him under his wing as a teenaged apprentice was pleased
that he will be eligible to ride at the Investec Derby festival.
Luca
Cumani said: "I very much hope he can overcome this setback. It would be a
shame if this affects his future because he's such a fantastic rider. I am sure
he will be determined to prove it again when he comes back. I'm glad he can be
around for the Derby
Marco
Botti provided Dettori with the last of his three top-flight victories in 2012,
when the rider steered Joshua Tree to success in the Canadian International.
Botti
said: "I'm not sure what Frankie's plans are but if he wants to keep fit
then I would be more than happy to let him ride work.
"Frankie
won the Canadian International for us. I was keen to use him on some horses and
we had a chance to have him more than previous years.
"We
don't have a stable jockey. Adam Kirby still rides for us and so does Martin
Harley and will continue to do so, but I think we'll have rides for Frankie
when he comes back."
Dettori
has been racing's most recognisable figure for numerous years, a fact
acknowledged by the sport's promoters, Racing For Change, who said racing was
strong enough to survive the negative publicity his case has brought.
In
a statement chief executive Rod
Street
"He
will certainly be missed but racing is a big sport so we're sure his absence
will bring other racing personalities to the fore. In terms of the wider impact
from Frankie's suspension, negative publicity for the sport is always
regrettable but racing is robust enough to cope with it. And, when Frankie
returns, we're certain he'll come back stronger and wiser."
William
Buick, a rising star of the weighing room, and likely one day to emulate
Dettori by becoming champion, said from Hong Kong :
"He has done so much good for the sport and I'm sure he will be back
stronger at the end of it."
The
riders' umbrella body, the Professional Jockeys Association, also backed
Dettori, chief executive Paul Struthers saying: "As in any walk of life
jockeys will make mistakes. Frankie Dettori has made such a mistake and
accepted the consequences of it, and if he needs any support the PJA and
Injured Jockeys Fund between them can provide that."
Struthers
continued: "Jockeys in Britain
"The
wider issue of jockeys' mental wellbeing is something the PJA cares
passionately about. "As well as all the normal pressures that other sportsmen and women have to contend with, unlike many other sports jockeys have the added pressures of massively reduced calorific intake and are constantly at very real risk of serious injury.
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