On this day in 2008 six-time champion jockey Kieren Fallon was banned from racing for 18 months after testing positive for a banned substance.

He initially failed a test following Myboycharlie’s success in the Group One Darley Prix Morny the previous August.

A B-test sample confirmed the original positive test for a banned substance and France Galop imposed the ban.

Fallon had previously served a six-month suspension imposed by France Galop for testing positive for a metabolite of cocaine in June 2006.

Speaking about the ban, he told the Racing Post: “It’s not a tragedy, you know. Far from it.

“There’s no doubt I’ll bounce back. It’s very silly of people to talk of retirement. I’m young at heart and have many years left.

“I’ll use the duration of the ban to get back on track, and when I do come back I’ll be stronger, both mentally and physically.”

He immediately launched an appeal against the ban which was heard the following month and subsequently upheld.

Fallon returned to the sport in September 2009 and made his return to action at Lingfield.

Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn has been suspended for two games for his cross-check on Vegas Golden Knights skipper Mark Stone.

Benn lunged in on Stone in Tuesday's 4-0 loss, a defeat that left the Stars in a 3-0 hole in the Western Conference finals.

The suspension was announced on Wednesday by the NHL Department of Player Safety.

Benn will now be forced to sit out Game 4, which takes place on Thursday, and should the Stars win to extend the series, Saturday's Game 5 in Las Vegas.

If the Golden Knights complete the sweep, Benn will have to sit out next season's opener.

In Game 3, Benn received a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for his hit on Stone less than two minutes in, with the Stars already trailing 1-0.

After Benn and Stone collided, the latter fell to the ice, landing on his back. Benn then dove downward onto Stone and cross-checked his head and neck area.

In a video announcing the suspension, the league determined that Benn intentionally decided to cross-check Stone while he was vulnerable.

"This is simply an unnecessarily dangerous decision by Benn, and it is delivered with sufficient intent and force to merit supplemental discipline," the league said.

This is the first time Benn has been suspended in his 14-year NHL career.

Benn, who has been Dallas' captain since the start of the 2013-14 season, has three goals and eight assists in this year's playoffs, including one goal in this series.

Gareth Southgate criticised the wide-reaching nature of Ivan Toney’s eight-month betting ban and told the suspended England striker he can still make next summer’s Euros.

The 27-year-old made his international debut as a substitute against Ukraine in March’s Euro 2024 qualifier but the Brentford star will not be able play for club or country again this year.

Toney was charged with 262 betting offences at the end of 2022 and was last week hit with an eight-month Football Association ban after admitting 232 breaches.

The striker starts the suspension by watching the end of the campaign and England’s June qualifiers from afar, with Southgate raising concerns about the sweeping impact of the ban.

“I have spoken with him,” the England boss said. “I don’t know if that’s allowed, by the way, but f it isn’t then they can ban me and not add to his.

“Look, the ban is the ban. It is what it is. I think he recognised and accepted the punishment.

“What bothers me is we’ve got to look after people. He’s injured at the moment, what does he do about getting fit? What does he do?

“How do we give him some structure over the next few months that he can develop himself or be a better person at the end of it? Or have experiences that he might not experience?

“I don’t like the idea that we just leave somebody, so that they are not allowed to be a part of the football community.

“I don’t think that’s how we should work, I don’t think that’s how the best rehabilitation programmes would work.

“But he knows that we picked him because we felt until there was a charge, he should be allowed to play.

“When he comes back, if he plays well then we’ll pick him.

“It won’t have any bearing but I think he’ll have additional motivation through what he is experiencing. I think he is a resilient guy with great character and we are here to support him.”

Toney is prohibited from training until September 17 and cannot play football again until January 17, 2024.

There is only four-and-a-half months between the striker’s return and the Euros kicking off in Germany, but Southgate says the door remains open for him.

Asked if Toney can still make the tournament in Germany, the England boss said: “Yeah, without a doubt.

“It is not ideal because he is going to miss a large chunk of the season and you don’t know after that sort of period out how physically he’s going to adapt and how he’s going to play.

“But it’s possible for him. There would still be time.

“He’s really impressed us with the way he’s played.

“I like personality, I like his belief and the way he goes about his job, so everything is still possible for him I think.”