Conditional jockey Tony Coyle has had his licence withdrawn for six months by the Jockey Club after he left a racecourse where he had been selected for a random drugs test.

Coyle (24), complained of feeling unwell before he left Lingfield on Friday, March 16th, without giving a sample.

At a hearing in London yesterday, the disciplinary committee found that Coyle had breached the rules in that he left Lingfield without providing a sample for analysis and without having requested or received an exemption from the local stewards.

Coyle's licence has been withdrawn from June 15th to December 14th.

The suspension period included an element of deterrent to enforce the requirement on jockeys to provide a sample when selected for testing.