Frankie Dettori banned for six months after failing drug test

There is an anxiety that a delayed return will cost Dettori precious connections (Getty Images)

Frankie Dettori admitted today he had “let down the sport he loves” after being handed a six-month riding ban for failing a drugs test.

The three-time British champion jockey tested positive for what is believed to be cocaine following a routine examination at Longchamp on September 16.

Dettori's suspension runs from November 20 to May 19 and is likely to be reciprocated by racing jurisdictions worldwide. With the British Horseracing Authority set to follow suit, the 41-year-old will be back in time to feature in the Derby and the Oaks at Epsom and at Royal Ascot in June.

His legal representative Christopher Stewart-Moore said that the Italian fully accepted the decision by France Galop, the governing body of French racing, to ban him for six months.

"Frankie also accepts that he has let down the sport he loves and all those associated with it, as well

as the wider public," added Stewart-Moore. "But most of all,

he has let down his wife and children."

Italian-born Dettori had four rides at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe trials meeting on September 16, after which the sample was returned.

The case was then put before

the medical commission of France Galop in Paris on November 20. It was announced a day later that he was temporarily suspended from competing in France on medical grounds.

Dettori's hearing concluded at France Galop's headquarters in Paris yesterday. Stewart-Moore said his client had received "a sympathetic hearing".