Nicky Henderson said he was hugely relieved despite receiving a record £40,000 fine and being banned from having runners for three months.

The punishments follow a British Horseracing Authority disciplinary enquiry over the use of a prohibited anti-bleeding drug on a horse owned by the Queen in February.

The three-man panel, chaired by Tim Charlton QC, found the 58-year-old former champion trainer guilty of administering Tranexamic Acid (TA) to Moonlit Path, who finished an unfancied sixth to odds-on stablemate Ravello Bay in a Mares' Novices' Hurdle at Huntingdon.

They concluded that disqualifying Henderson was not warranted - but also that a fine was not enough.

It means Henderson can continue to employ his workforce and that owners can keep their horses with him.

If those owners want to run their horses during his suspension, they must be entered by, and put into the care of, another trainer. But Henderson (right), who cannot make any entries from 11 July to 10 October, said he accepts the punishment. He said: "I am obviously hugely relieved that this saga has been concluded and, even though this seems a harsh sentence, we accept the findings."

He added: "Although the medication should not have been administered, I can only re-iterate, as the panel has accepted, that it was only given in the interest of the welfare of Moonlit Path. 

The panel also took into account the fact the substance was administered by an experienced vet whom Henderson considered as an advisor - and also that it is unlikely to act as a performance enhancer.

The panel also stated that: "The real reason he was prepared to use TA close to a race was that he thought it would not be detected." Additionally, they added that the "omissions from the Medication Book show that horse welfare cannot be seen as Henderson's sole intention".

BHA spokesman Owen Byrne said: "The panel's findings made it quite clear. They concluded that there was intent to conceal and ultimately he knew exactly what he was doing."