By chris roots
Apprentice jockey Deanne Panya will have to apply to Racing NSW to be allowed to serve a month-long ban for a failed drug test while she still receives workers' compensation.
Panya could not explain her positive sample to the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, which prevents the body absorbing salt and is generally found in blood pressure tablets.
Sidelined: Deanne Panya has been suspended for a month for failing a drug test.Credit: Bradleyphotos.com.au
"I don't like taking pills and tablets, and I try not to take them," Panya said. "I don't need diuretics because if there was a scale here now I could prove I'm 50kg."
Panya's positive test came at a Randwick meeting on January 2 and she provided a clear sample on January 21. She plead guilty to supplying a sample containing a prohibited substance.
However, in sentencing Panya to a month's suspension, chief steward Marc Van Gestel had to invoke local rule 109, which prevents a jockey from starting their penalty until they finish workers' compensation.
Panya is recovering from a fall at Rosehill last month where she sustained a broken collarbone and is receiving workers' compensation. She will apply for dispensation to Racing NSW chief executive Peter V'Landys, who can allow the ban to be served while on compensation.
The apprentice was cleared of any wrongdoing from the Rosehill fall at an inquiry earlier in the afternoon.
Earlier in the day, trainer Con Karakatsanis was disqualified for 12 months after he was found guilty of "administering or causing to be administered medication" to Howmuchdoyouloveme on raceday when it was a late scratching from Randwick on September 17 last year.
The offence carries a mandatory six-month disqualification but as Karakatsanis had a previous offence under the rule, stewards opted to make his penalty 12 months.
He immediately lodged an appeal and was granted a stay of proceedings until February 21.
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