Whilst I agree with a lot of what's been said here, I also think a few people have been missing the point.
Firstly: The drug tests apparently, or allegedly, showed that Fallon had tested for 'pure' ie undigested cocaine, not the metabolites which would have showed if he he had taken the drug the night before. The implication, if what they found is true, is that EITHER the sample had been doctored OR that Fallon had taken the drug shortly enough before riding for it not to have metabolised.
Secondly: It's not true that cocaine doesn't improve performance. In the sense that it works on the mind to instill a feeling of utter self-confidence if not of invincibility, it would imo be a powerful help to both rider and horse taken just before a race. Self-confidence in a jockey translates readily to the horse, as does fearlessness. Both could make the difference between getting a horse to perform, or to go through a gap, etc etc, and losing a race. I can well imagine a coke high - which gives an incredible clarity of mind - or apparently so! - being a big help to a jockey.
And yes I have taken over the years quite a bit of the stuff, purely in social situations, tho not recently and never, God forbid, riding a horse [I used to inhabit the kinds of social worlds where it was fairly normal - still is probably]. So I know enough to know why jockeys might use it.
I doubt extremely that any jock would take coke purely as an appetite depressant - its effect is almost immediate and very powerful, which is why it's very addictive stuff if taken regularly - but on a psychological level rather than the physical. I've seen a few close friends' lives fall apart because of it. It's not a devil which is easily controlled, once you've made that pact; and there is little downside for a long time except the financial - which to a rich man takes a long time to kick in.
Jockeys are obsessives, they have to be to do the job. A few years ago when they were no longer able to drink to paper over the cracks in what must always be tough personal lives [the hours, the travel...], so they maybe turned to coke as an alternative 'high' and mental release, as the stuff was so readily available and prob not being looked for. It's no co-incidence to me that it's jocks of a certain age who have been hoist on this particular petard.
PS I'd add that friends who have imo become addicted to coke, have all been forced to forswear the booze for one reason or another - alcoholism or pancreatic failure.
As an addenda to all this I'll add that [following experiences of a few Brit friends] I am very suspicious of anything which comes out of a French Stewards' Room.
But what could Fallon do, if 'they' - whoever they might be - are determined to get him?
