TEEN sensation Benoit de la Sayette faces a six-month ban after testing positive for cocaine.
The young jockey failed a drugs test just weeks after denying using the Class A substance.
The entry-level punishment for a first positive cocaine test is a six-month suspension of a jockey’s licence.
The date of de la Sayette’s hearing has yet to be announced, but a six-month ban would rule him out for the entire Flat turf season – just four weeks after it began.
The 18-year-old, dubbed the next Frankie Dettori, won the first big Flat race of the season aboard Haqeeqy in the Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster on March 27.
Just days later, a video was leaked on social media appearing to show the jockey near the drug at a party.
That clip – which called de la Sayette ‘Newmarket’s biggest junkie’ – was rejected as a ‘malicious’ attempt to discredit the rising star, and the rider issued a strong denial.
But in subsequent BHA tests, de la Sayette’s hair sample returned a positive for metabolites of cocaine and he admitted to taking the drug.
He has made a stunning start to his career in the saddle, with 12 winners from 49 rides.
The Professional Jockeys’ Association (PJA) said they would support the teenager.
PJA chief Paul Struthers said: “Benoit is a very young man who only turned 18 in December.
“He has made mistakes but the PJA will continue to support him throughout the process.”
The jockey issued an apology for taking cocaine and for ‘misleading’ those around him in a statement.
He said: “I cannot apologise enough for my actions, both in respect of taking cocaine and of misleading those around me.
“Earlier this year I moved back home to live with my parents in order to take myself away from an environment where it was present.
“There are no excuses and I am sorry.”
