Royal trainer handed three-month ban

By Dave Thompson

LONDON (Reuters) - Nicky Henderson was handed a three-month ban and fined a record 40,000 pounds on Friday over a failed drugs test involving a horse he trains for the Queen.

Henderson, one of the sport's leading figures, was found guilty at a British Horse Racing Authority (BHA) hearing last month of administering the prohibited anti-bleeding drug tranexamic acid to the mare Moonlit Path before she finished sixth in her debut race at Huntingdon in February.

Henderson had denied any wrongdoing over the rule dealing with administering or attempting to administer a positive substance.

He described the sentence as seeming "harsh" but accepted the findings and promised to try harder than ever to emulate last season's results when he won over 2 million pounds for his owners.

The Queen's racing advisor Michael Oswald said they were "disappointed" but would be reading the details of the BHA findings before any decisions were made.

Henderson, 58, has said all along that there had been no intention to enhance the performance of Moonlit Path who has run three times since her unsuccessful debut, finishing fourth twice and being pulled up on her most recent outing in May.

Under the ban, Henderson cannot make any entries for races from July 11 to October 10.

But because he was not disqualified by the disciplinary panel he can continue to employ his workforce and owners can keep their horses with him.