Jockey Banned After Testing 1,000 Times over Cocaine Limit

An Irish jockey has been banned for six months after he was found to be 1,000 times over the legal cocaine limit at the Chelmsford Races in 2020.

Adrian McCarthy, 42, cited pandemic-induced depression as the reason why he ingested the drug “four or five” times at a bar only a day or two before the race.

McCarthy’s jockey license has been removed for six months.

“He gave a reading of 150,300 nanograms per millilitre, when the threshold for riding is 150 ng/ml,” BBC Sport reports.

McCarthy’s depression reached such depths that he even considered taking his own life. However, now, he claims he’s optimistic about his future.

“I just got into a bit of a rut,” McCarthy explained at his hearing. “Drinking all the time, using drugs, cocaine, and trying to make things better. Obviously, it doesn’t make things better.

“I’m in a lot better place now than I was before, I just want to get my head down and do what’s right.”

McCarthy continued, “We all make mistakes. I made a mistake, I regret it. I just have to look forward and work hard.”

Perhaps even more amazing than the amount of cocaine in McCarthy’s system is the fact that there is a legal limit for cocaine in a rider’s system at all. One would think the legal cocaine limit for a competitor about to take charge of a 1,100-pound racehorse, would be zero.

The race commission must feel its jockeys are entitled to a little boost.