LEGENDARY JOCKEY FRANKIE Dettori was suspended from riding worldwide for six months by French racing’s governing body France Galop on Wednesday for failing a doping test.
The 41-year-old Italian — probably racing’s most high profile personality — tested positive for a non-performance enhancing banned substance at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe trials at Longchamp on 16 September.
The ban runs from 19 December to 19 May, which crucially will allow Dettori to ride in the Epsom Derby on 1 June.
France Galop took into account his having agreed not to ride at all once his medical certificate had been withdrawn by the Medical Commission on 20 November.
“Because Frankie Dettori said that he would not ride anywhere in the world from November 20 that has been taken into account,” a France Galop spokesman told AFP.
“Thus the immediate ban is five months but it is six in counting the time since he voluntarily stepped down from riding on November 20.”
Dettori, though, must return to France and undergo more medical tests before he is cleared to ride again.
“He must return to France and undergo biological tests on 20 April. If they are clear then he is free to resume riding on 19 May,” the spokesman said.
