NZ Melbourne Cup jockey banned after drug test

Jockey Jim Cassidy takes part in the Melbourne Cup Parade on Monday. Photo / Getty Images

Champion New Zealand-born jockey Jim Cassidy has been suspended for three months after testing positive to a banned substance.

The unnamed substance - which the Sydney Morning Herald reported was cannabis - was found in a urine sample taken following the meeting at Warwick Farm on October 4.

Cassidy, 47, who rode the unplaced Once Were Wild in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup, fronted Racing NSW stewards on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to a charge of having committed an offence of having provided a sample that contained a banned substance.

Cassidy's suspension ends on February 3 next year.

However, stewards advised Cassidy that they would stay one month of the ban should he complete a satisfactory program of professional counselling.

The jockey provided a clear sample when retested on October 26 and was allowed to fulfil his engagements up until Wednesday's inquiry.

Cassidy is one of only seven jockeys to have won a career grand slam of Australia's four major races - the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and Golden Slipper.

- AAP, NZ Herald staff