UK flat champion jockey Oisin Murphy says cocaine was present in his environment which led to his positive test by France Galop, but he denies ever taking the drug.
Murphy was handed a three month ban last week for a positive test at Chantilly back in July.
The Kerry native's defence team revealed he engaged in a sexual encounter with a woman who was an occasional user of the recreational drug the night before the race meeting.
This resulted in environmental contamination, which investigators accepted as fact. Murphy presented the results of a hair sample at his hearing.
He told the BBC that he will learn from the incident.
"I became aware of a situation where cocaine was present in my environment and I saw it there and didn't remove myself from that situation immediately.
"When you sign for your jockey's licence every year you have got to abide by the rules.
"That was my error, and I very much have no self-pity. I made a mistake and I've got to live with the consequences."
Murphy's ban will run between December 11th and March 11th and will take him off the Far East circuit.
The 25-year-old is to fill his time off the track with charity work.
He added: "I made a massive error and I'm missing out on plenty. I should be in Japan this time of the year, I love riding there.
"I'm going to miss the big races in Saudi Arabia and Super Saturday in Dubai.
"But I need to put things right and I need to use my time over the next three months to do the right thing and take the right steps. This is a huge lesson."
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