Gallagher “unlikely” to ride again

TOP JUMP jockey Dean Gallagher acknowledged yesterday that he does not expect to return to race-riding after he received a ban of nearly 18 months after testing positive for cocaine.

Having widely been expected to be suspended for two years or more, Gallagher admitted that it was a better result than anticipated when he was told at a Jockey Club hearing that he would not be able to reapply for his licence until May 1, 2004.

But the 33-year-old also said it was ‘‘unlikely’’ that he would return to riding describing yesterday as ‘‘the first day of the rest of my new life’’.